Radiation as the Cause of Lung Cancer among Uranium Miners

THE identification of etiologic agents in chronic-disease epidemiology depends on sound study design, rigorous analytical methods and definitive criteria for evaluation. Unfortunately, the implementation of these principles has been all too infrequent in the field of occupational carcinogenesis. It is not surprising, therefore, that occupational studies on the same suspect carcinogen have often resulted in conflicting conclusions.A case in point is the lack of unanimity concerning the role of airborne radiation as an occupational carcinogen in man. This controversy dates from 1879, when Härting and Hesse1 first made note of the strikingly high percentage of deaths from pulmonary neoplasia . . .