The incidence of the adult population living in the "uranium legacy" area in conditions of radon exposure

Introduction. The purpose of the study is to assess the health status of the adult population of the Lermontov city, Stavropol Territory, living in the “uranium legacy” area in conditions of increased exposure to radon in residential premises has been investigated.

Materials and methods. The material of the study was the medical statistics data for the period 2009–2018 reported by Clinical Hospital No. 101 under FMBA of Russia, presented in forms No. 7 (information on malignant diseases) and No. 12 (information on the number of diseases in adults). The frequency, structure and dynamics of primary morbidity and incidence of malignant neoplasms were evaluated.

Results. During the period under review, a high primary incidence in the adult population was revealed (average: 748.2 ± 111.4 per 1000 persons) to increase and significantly exceeded the same indicator in the Stavropol Territory (390.3 ± 20.3 per 1000 persons) The incidence of four classes of diseases: diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, diseases of the genitourinary system, diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, diseases of the eye and adnexa was significantly higher than the regional average value. The incidence of respiratory diseases (lungs — a critical organ to the action of radon) did not significantly differ from the average regional indicators. On the contrary, the incidence of malignant neoplasms decreased (330.6 ± 1.1 per 100.0 persons) and on average approached that in the region (320.5 ± 11.4 per 100.0 persons). At the same time, the incidence of lung cancers was significantly lower than the regional average (22.6 ± 3.0 and 33.5 ± 0.3 per 100.0 persons, respectively).

Limitations. The study is limited to studying the state of incidence (primary, cancer) of Lermontov adult population. The estimation of the relative number of excess lung cancers is based on the expert assessment of the ICRP of the corresponding coefficient.

Conclusion. According to medical statistics for 2009–2018, the population of Lermontov had a relatively low incidence of malignant neoplasms, including lung cancers, of which, according to theoretical estimates, no more than 15–20% of cases can be conditionally associated with radon exposure. The revealed relatively high primary incidence of the adult population seems to be associated with the adverse impact on health of numerous factors of the human environment. Presumably, this situation also reflects the availability of quality medical care for the population.

Contribution:

Petoyan I.M. — the concept and design of the study, statistical processing, writing a text, responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript;

Shandala N.K. — the concept and design of the study, text editing;

Titov A.V. — the concept and design of the study, writing a text;

Zinovieva N.V. — collection and processing of material.

All authors are responsible for approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: November 10, 2021 / Accepted: November 25, 2021 / Published: April 08, 2022