Radon gas in the home and brain cancer risk in older women
Original title: Residential radon concentration and the risk of malignant brain and central nervous system cancer in United States postmenopausal women.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This study watched people over many years. It is not a treatment.
The short version
Women whose homes had more radon gas had a higher risk of brain and spinal cord cancer.
What was studied. Researchers followed 159,391 U.S. women after menopause for about 17.7 years. They compared the radon gas level at each woman's home with who later got a brain or spinal cord cancer.
What they found. In that time, 451 of the women got this kind of cancer. Risk went up as the radon level went up. Women living with the most radon had a higher risk than women living with the least.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Radon at home may be one thing that adds to the risk of these cancers. This is about what may raise risk, not about how to treat a tumor. It does not tell you what caused any one person's cancer.
What it doesn't mean: This does not prove that radon causes brain cancer. The study only watched women over time and looked for patterns. It is not a test, a treatment, or a cure. It also cannot tell you your own risk, and it does not change the care you get today.
Source: PubMed, September 1, 2026 · Read the original
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