Soil uranium, basement radon and lung cancer in Illinois, USA.

Using counties as the sampling unit, a significant association between the chemical form of uranium occurring in soils with basement radon levels was found (Spearman r, 0.266; p > |r|, 0.007). Uranium atoms dispersed throughout the soil matrix are efficient emanators of Rn to soil gas, whereas Rn that is trapped diffuses very slowly from the several U-bearing minerals in Illinois soils and does not contribute significantly to explaining basement Rn. Basement Rn level is correlated with annual incidence of male and female lung cancers. Dispersed U is correlated with annual incidence of lung cancer in females with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.162 (p > |r|, 0.104) and males of 0.177 (p > |r|, 0.075).