Residential radon exposure and brain cancer: an ecological study in a radon prone area (Galicia, Spain)

We aimed to know if radon concentration is associated with municipal mortality due to brain cancer in Galicia, Spain. We designed an ecological study taking as study unit Galician municipalities. To be included, municipalities had to have at least three radon measurements. We correlated radon concentrations with municipal mortality due to these malignant tumors during the period 1999–2008. We calculated the relative risk of dying of brain cancers for each municipality and correlated this value with municipal radon concentration using Spearman’s Rho. 251 municipalities were included, with close to 3,500 radon measurements and an average of 14 radon measurements at each municipality. We observed a significant correlation between residential radon with brain cancer mortality for males and females and the intensity of the correlation was higher for females. These results were reinforced when the analysis was restricted to municipalities with more than 5 radon measurements: Spearman’s Rho 0.286 (p-value < 0.001) and Spearman’s Rho 0.509 (p-value < 0.001) for males and females, respectively. These results suggest an association between residential radon and brain cancer mortality. More research using more robust epidemiological designs is needed to confirm these findings.