Biophysical mechanisms and radiation doses in radon therapy

Tempfer, Herbert; Schober, Anne; Hofmann, Werner; Lettner, Herbert; Steger, F.

doi:10.1016/s1569-4860(04)07078-0

Cited by 12 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Other authors (e.g. [97]) confirm these values. Nevertheless, one of the problems for the more widespread use of radon therapy are governmental radiation protection regulations, which are based on the ICRP/IAEA/NCRP/EU assumption of the hazards associated with radon.…”

Section: Dose Levels Administrative Questions and Outlooksupporting

confidence: 55%

One century of radon therapy

Becker¹

2004

IJLR

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Supplementing a recent review 'Health effects of high radon environments in Central Europe: another test for the HLNT hypothesis [1]', this review of medical radon applications (in particular for the treatment of painful degenerative joint and spine diseases) covers mainly the first century of large-scale use and scientific studies on this subject since the discovery of radon. Most of the studies and experiences originated in Europe, in particular Germany, Austria, and the former USSR. They have in common that they are not well known in the anglophonic scientific literature, where radon therapy is still frequently considered a placebo-type 'traditional medicine', and not be compared with the drugs such as non-steroid antirheumatics. However, based on the substantial experiences as reflected in more than one thousand papers, mostly in peer-reviewed scientific journals, on this subject, radon therapy by inhalation or baths has been established as an evidence-based effective treatment not only by empirical experience in different times and cultures, but also in randomised clinical double-blind studies. It should be further explored as an effective alternative to the use of pharmaca. Unlike radon, drugs cause serious side effects, with more than ten thousand annual casualties. The benefits in the adequate use of low-dose radon exposures far exceed the hypothetical lung cancer risk attributed to the inhalation of low radon concentrations. Further research could provide better understanding of the mechanism of the stimulating radon effects on the body's defence systems.

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Section: Dose Levels Administrative Questions and Outlooksupporting

confidence: 55%

One century of radon therapy

Becker¹

2004

IJLR

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“…In the studies of Tempfer et al . and Furuno, the time dependence of radon concentration in exhaled air during (and after) bathing was investigated [ 15 , 16 ]. In Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experimental data: (a) Tempfer et al . and (b) Furuno [ 15 , 16 ]. The exposure conditions are summarized in Table 1 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The experimental conditions in the studies of Tempfer et al . and Furuno were similar, although the radon concentrations in both water and air were different by an order of magnitude [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 5th percentile Mode GM (median) AM 95th percentile 5.4 × 10 −8 9.5 × 10 −8 3.7 × 10 −7 7.3 × 10 −7 2.7 × 10 −6 Tempfer et al . [ 15 ] 1 (Female) 950 × 10 3 3000 37 20 Eleven times during and after bathing. Best estimate 7.4 × 10 −8 Furuno [ 16 ] 1 (Unknown) 58 × 10 3 274 36 60 Five times during bathing.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the intake of radon through skin from thermal water

Sakoda

Ishimori

Tschiersch

2016

Journal of Radiation Research

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The biokinetics of radon in the body has previously been studied with the assumption that its absorption through the skin is negligibly small. This assumption would be acceptable except in specific situations, such as bathing in a radon hot spring where the radon concentration in thermal water is far higher than that in air. The present study focused on such a situation in order to better understand the biokinetics of radon. To mathematically express the entry of radon through the skin into the body, we first modified the latest sophisticated biokinetic model for noble gases. Values of an important parameter for the model—the skin permeability coefficient K (m s−1)—were derived using data from previous human studies. The analysis of such empirical data, which corresponded to radon concentrations in the air exhaled by subjects during and following bathing in radon-rich thermal water, revealed that the estimated K values had a log-normal distribution. The validity of the K values and the characteristics of the present model are then discussed. Furthermore, the impact of the intake of radon or its progeny via inhalation or skin absorption on radiation dose was also assessed for possible exposure scenarios in a radon hot spring. It was concluded that, depending on the radon concentration in thermal water, there might be situations in which the dose contribution resulting from skin absorption of radon is comparable to that resulting from inhalation of radon and its progeny. This conclusion can also apply to other therapeutic situations (e.g. staying in the pool for a longer period).

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Deposition of radon progeny on skin surfaces and resulting radiation doses in radon therapy

Tempfer

Hofmann

Schober

et al. 2010

Radiat Environ Biophys

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In the Gastein valley, Austria, radon-rich thermal water and air have been used for decades for the treatment of various diseases. To explore the exposure pathway of radon progeny adsorbed to the skin, progeny activities on the skin of patients exposed to thermal water (in a bathtub) and hot vapour (in a vapour chamber) were measured by alpha spectrometry. Average total alpha activities on the patients' skin varied from 1.2 to 4.1 Bq/cm(2) in the bathtub, and from 1.1 to 2.6 Bq/cm(2) in the vapour bath. Water pH-value and ion concentration did affect radon progeny adsorption on the skin, whereas skin greasiness and blood circulation did not. Measurements of the penetration of deposited radon progeny into the skin revealed a roughly exponential activity distribution in the upper layers of the skin. Based on the radon progeny surface activity concentrations and their depth distributions, equivalent doses to different layers of the skin, in particular to the Langerhans cells located in the epidermis, ranged from 0.12 mSv in the thermal bath to 0.33 mSv in the vapour bath, exceeding equivalent doses to the inner organs (kidneys) by inhaled radon and progeny by about a factor 3, except for the lung, which receives the highest doses via inhalation. These results suggest that radon progeny attachment on skin surfaces may play a major role in the dosimetry for both thermal water and hot vapour treatment schemes.

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Biophysical mechanisms and radiation doses in radon therapy

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

One century of radon therapy

One century of radon therapy

Evaluation of the intake of radon through skin from thermal water

Deposition of radon progeny on skin surfaces and resulting radiation doses in radon therapy

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