The research also suggests that radon may be disproportionately more harmful at lower concentrations. It is generally assumed that inhaled radon gas is quickly exhaled and has little time during its circulation through the body to deposit its radioactive products in human organs, tissues, or bones. Animals exposed to high concentrations of radon progeny display lung carcinoma, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, and a shortened life span. However, the risk of other cancers is much lower than the lung cancer risk. The grim alternative - genetic damage Ionizing radiation causes random damage to the chromosomes and DNA molecules contained in the nucleus of the cell, including genetic mutations that may affect future generations.
Substances having a carcinogenic effect also have a genetic and a teratogenic effect.
Damage to the DNA of reproductive cell, e.g. gamma irradiation of sperm, can lead to genetic deficiencies in the offspring, and if an embryonic cell is damaged, the normal development of the fetus can be disrupted. In areas of high natural background radiation, an increased frequency of chromosome aberrations has been observed. Any individual dose, however small, is able to produce gross malignancies and deformities if it is administered to a sufficiently large population. Lung cancer treatment Lung cancer starts in bronchial tubes and lungs. The danger of a destructive spread of cancer is acute, because lungs are connected to other organs of the body by a complex network of blood vessels.