Multivariate analysis of the carcinogenic risk of radon

Epidemiological studies using the methods of multivariate analysis were conducted to assess the contribution of unprofessional of radon radiation to the development of lung malignancies in the population living in the area having the increased radon hazard potential. The subject of the study was the town of Lermontov in the Stavropol Territory, the houses of its dwellers were found to have higher radon accumulation levels and high lung cancer morbidity rates were recorded among its population. Systems analysis of the influence of 23 various risk factors on the development of lung malignancies, which made by image recognition techniques, has indicated that in the town's population the contribution of nonprofessional exposure to radon to the development of this pathology is little and amounts to about 2%. The calculations of cancer risks from exposure of the population of the town of Lermontov to radon in the houses, made using the multiplicative BEIR VI models to assess the radiation risk, have shown higher results - 30%. Discussing the results of work has advanced arguments in favor of the reliability and higher adequacy of using the methods of multivariate analysis to assess the radiation risk in the range of small doses of radiation as compared with the univariate analysis.