Radon Exposure and Human Health: What Happens in Volcanic Environments?

Abstract

Volcanic activity can cause hazardous efects to the environment and the health of the exposed persons such as an increased risk for the development of several cancers. In geothermal areas, volcanic gases such as radon are continuously vented from the main crater, from fumarolic ields or difused through soil. The continued long-term exposure to radon can enhance the risk of lung cancer being considered the leading cause of lung cancer following tobacco smoking. The chronic exposure to volcanogenic radon requires the development of biomonitoring methods that will assist in the evaluation of the efects of exposure to this genotoxic element. The Human Biomonitoring with the use of exfoliated buccal cells is minimally invasive, and the endpoints of the buccal micronucleus cytome (BMCyt) assay are the biomarkers of efect most recently used to measure genetic damage for the exposure to genotoxic and cytotoxic xenobiotics. The BMCyt assay has been used in a number of occupational studies, and positive results were detected as a consequence of exposure to pesticides, metals, and industrial chemicals that are suspected to cause cancer. Regarding the chronic exposure to volcanic environments, many studies revealed a rise in the numbers of MN in buccal exfoliated cells, indicating an increased risk for cancer. This chapter aims to cover the main health hazards and biomonitoring methods for populations chronically exposed to volcanic environments, allowing an estimate of health risks and to implement risk management measures regarding the exposure to certain compounds.

Occurrence of Volcanogenic Inorganic Mercury in Wild Mice Spinal Cord: Potential Health Implications

“…The link between air pollution and its effects in CNS is widely studied [34][35][36][37][38][39]. However, little is known about its effects in individuals exposed to active volcanic environments, even though volcanos are relevant sources of contaminants that are harmful to humans [7,13,[40][41][42]. Furthermore, the literature focuses on the brain as the main part of the CNS affected by air pollution, often neglecting the spinal cord as an important part of this system.…”

Epithelial morphometric alterations and mucosecretory responses in the nasal cavity of mice chronically exposed to hydrothermal emissions

“…Exposure to the asphyxiant gas CO 2 has been proven to be related to increased inflammatory processes (Coakley et al, 2002). Radon is considered the main source of human exposure to any type of radioactivity (Hendry et al, 2009), and although considered to be the second leading cause of lung cancer by IARC (IARC, 1988), only recently a few studies have focused on 222 Rn exposure and its associated health risks in hydrothermal regions (Kristbjornsdottir & Rafnsson, 2013;Linhares et al, 2015Linhares et al, , 2017. Exposure to GEM has been previously linked to neuropathologies (Navarro-Sempere et al, 2020).…”