§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the risk to health of radon gas in the United Kingdom. [169711]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonRadiation-induced lung cancers have been reported in uranium and hard rock miners for a long time. However, the aetiological role of radon was not recognised until 1951, when it was discovered that the lung hazard was due to radiation dose from the decay products of radon. Since the 1980s, the National Radiological Protection Board has kept the risk to health from radon gas under review. The main risk is still lung cancer, although it has been suggested that radon may also cause other types of cancer. On theoretical grounds, some such radon-induced cancers would be expected, but these would be far fewer than the lung cancers and have not been detected in well-designed epidemiological studies.