Early View
Original Research Article

Radon as a Tracer of Lung Changes Induced by Smoking

Radoslav Böhm

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: bohm@fmph.uniba.sk

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Address correspondence to Radoslav Böhm, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; tel: +4212/602 95 771;

E-mail address: bohm@fmph.uniba.sk

.Search for more papers by this author
Antonín Sedlák

National Radiation Protection Institute, Prague, Czech Republic

Search for more papers by this author
Martin Bulko

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Search for more papers by this author
Karol Holý

Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 12 August 2019

[Correction added on August 23, 2019 after first online publication: a formula is deleted from equation 30.]

Abstract

After smoking, exposure to radon and its progeny is the second leading cause of lung cancer. The probability of inducing lung carcinomas by inhaled radon progeny depends on the deposited radiation dose, and is significantly affected by physiological and morphometric changes induced by smoking. Due to irritation of the airways, the inhalation of cigarette smoke leads to the hyperproduction of mucus. Two concurrent processes occur: on one hand, increased production of mucus protects the target cells against radiation damage; on the other hand, in the case of long‐term smokers, a chronic lung obstruction develops, causing an increase in the radiation dose to the lungs. Depending on the duration and intensity of smoking, these processes contribute to the final radiation dose with different weights. The primary objective of this study was to investigate to what extent these smoke‐induced changes can modify the resulting absorbed dose of inhaled radon progeny relative to healthy nonsmokers. Since the bronchial dose depends on the degree of lung tissue damage, we have used this dose as a tool for detecting the effects of smoking on the lung epithelium. In other words, the biological effect of radon served as a tracer of changes induced by smoking.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.