Variation with socioeconomic status of indoor radon levels in Great Britain: The less affluent have less radon

Abstract

We demonstrate a strong correlation between domestic radon levels and socio-economic status (SES) in Great Britain, so that radon levels in homes of people with lower SES are, on average, only about two thirds of those of the more affluent. This trend is apparent using small area measures of SES and also using individual social classes. The reasons for these differences are not known with certainty, but may be connected with greater underpressure in warmer and better-sealed dwellings. There is also a variation of indoor radon levels with the design of the house (detached, terraced, etc.). In part this is probably an effect of SES, but it appears to have other causes as well. Data from other countries are also reviewed, and broadly similar effects seen in the United States for SES, and in other European countries for detached vs other types of housing. With smoking, this tendency for the lower SES groups to experience lower radon levels may underlie the negative association between radon levels and lung cancer rates in a well-known ecological study based on US Counties. Those conducting epidemiological studies of radon should be alert for this effect and control adequately for SES.

Modelling the bimodal distribution of indoor gamma-ray dose-rates in Great Britain

“…There is about a 10% difference in mean dose-rate between the highest and lowest Carstairs quintiles, which is much smaller than the corresponding variation for radon (Kendall et al, 2016a).…”

“…lower Carstairs score) in comparison to the birth locations of study subjects. This is almost certainly a consequence of a higher relative participation in the measurement programme by the more affluent (Kendall et al, 2016a), whereas birth records are not so affected, and it will be noted that the difference in the proportions of measurements and births is particularly marked in the most deprived quintile. However, the Carstairs scores for each quintile are similar between the measurement locations and the birth locations so allowance for Carstairs quintile should compensate for this difference in epidemiological analyses.…”

“…The type of dwelling and the period of construction both affect indoor radiation levels. Some data on these topics were collected in the National Survey by Wrixon and co-workers (Wrixon et al, 1988) and by Kendall and co-workers (Kendall et al, 2016a). For completeness a brief summary of the National Survey data is given in Appendix A.…”

An Interdisciplinary Population Health Approach to Radon Health Risk Management in Canada

“…There are clear socioeconomic differences in radon-related awareness, risk perceptions, and behaviors. People from lower SES (Kendall et al, 2016) and rural areas (Hill et al, 2006) are less likely to be aware of the risks of radon exposure. Time-series studies of exposure to air pollution found a higher risk of all-cause mortality for people of lower SES (Lin et al, 2004;Villeneuve et al, 2003).…”

“…In contrast, people with a higher SES maintain their houses and control or even modify their environment with newer technologies (Vardoulakis et al, 2015). However, a recent study in the UK shows an inverse relation to SES, whereby affluent houses that are air-tight and drought-proof have higher levels of radon (Kendall et al, 2016).…”