Radon Alert - cancer causing radiation in whole of SA

[grok]

Can we do like that movie & sue God? What kinda radon dispensing death planet did he give us to live on?

 

[Tokolotshe]

Can we do like that movie & sue God? What kinda radon dispensing death planet did he give us to live on?

It causes a serious disease called life. No matter what you do, you don't get out alive.
(ask Schabir Shaik, he was released from prison for having it - so add Durbs to the list)

 

[Zoomzoom]

Simple test - does South Africa have higher than average cancer rates? No? Then no risk.

 

[rietrot]

As usual the national radiation regulator is still busy looking at the problem...

Natural accruing gas escaping from the earth. What could they possibly do?

 

[rietrot]

Clickbait...

There is less risk in the average home, than from eating a banana.

What nonsense. Do you even understand how averages work?

 

[rietrot]

Simple test - does South Africa have higher than average cancer rates? No? Then no risk.

You mean avarerge risk.

 

[j4ck455]

As usual the national radiation regulator is still busy looking at the problem...

NERSA needs to stop vainly looking at itself in mirrors and actually do something that resembles what they are being paid to do, perhaps it would help if all their mirrors were smashed to pieces.

 

[Gordon_R]

What nonsense. Do you even understand how averages work?

Actually I do, I studied Engineering and Actuarial Science. But that is besides the point, the article is sensationalist rubbish...

 

[Zoomzoom]

You mean avarerge risk.

No I don't. I mean the actual number of people who get cancer. If we have radon all over the country, and it causes cancer as the fear-mongering suggests then we should have more people getting cancer. If we don't, if the number of people getting cancer fall into an expected percentage of the population, then radon isn't the huge risk it is being made out to be.

 

[Gordon_R]

There is so much misinformation in the OP, it is worth reading some factual sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon#Accumulation_in_buildings

1. Radon is a particular problem in buildings with basements. Not common in SA.
2. Radon is a problem in buildings that are sealed against winter weather. Very few such in SA.
3. Radon varies with soil type, and is minimally present in the majority of SA.
4. Knowledge of radiation has been around for many decades. This is not news.
5. The worst exposures are at health-spas, with radioactive water. Not common in SA.

Edit: Overall background radiation levels are low, with radon only being one of many sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation

Exposure to radiation from natural sources is an inescapable feature of everyday life in both working and public environments. This exposure is in most cases of little or no concern to society, but in certain situations the introduction of health protection measures needs to be considered, for example when working with uranium and thorium ores and other Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material

 

[j4ck455]

Actually I do, I studied Engineering and Actuarial Science. But that is besides the point, the article is sensationalist rubbish...

Clickbait...

There is less risk in the average home, than from eating a banana.

The "clickbait" "article" that you are slamming is actually a Carte Blanche video hosted on YouTube.

Did you even bother to look at post #1 in this thread?

While I realise that Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information, here is some reference material to jumpstart your risk calculations with regards to the decay of Radon versus the decay of Potassium contained in the average banana:

Banana equivalent dose - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Radon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[rietrot]

Actually I do, I studied Engineering and Actuarial Science. But that is besides the point, the article is sensationalist rubbish...

Then you are supposed to know that the average means absolutely nothing.

 

[Gordon_R]

The "clickbait" "article" that you are slamming is actually a Carte Blanche video hosted on YouTube.

Did you even bother to look at post #1 in this thread?

While I realise that Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information, here is some reference material to jumpstart your risk calculations with regards to the decay of Radon versus the decay of Potassium contained in the average banana:

Banana equivalent dose - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Radon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am very familiar with the OP, who started an equally sensational thread about global warming, that wasted huge amounts of bandwidth. The video may or may not be relevant, but the thread title is pure clickbait.

Millions of South Africans are exposed to radioactive radon gas in their homes and workplaces every day, as the naturally occurring gas escapes through cracks in the earth. The second leading cause of lung cancer in several countries, radon breaks down and when inhaled, decaying atoms emit alpha radiation that can damage the DNA. There are no safe levels of radon concentration. The United States Environmental Protection Agency emphasises any radon exposure has some risk of causing lung cancer.

This statement is factually true, but completely misleading.

 

[Gordon_R]

The "clickbait" "article" that you are slamming is actually a Carte Blanche video hosted on YouTube.

Out of interest I watched the "video", and stand by my comments. Complete rubbish! The presenter has no knowledge of science or statistics. She is just parroting information she has fed from dubious scientific sources, and generalising specific issues to scare the whole population of SA.

 

[j4ck455]

I am very familiar with the OP, who started an equally sensational thread about global warming, that wasted huge amounts of bandwidth.

I suggest you get yourself an uncapped connection, or use less bandwidth by simply ignoring the things that trigger insane responses.

The video may or may not be relevant, but the thread title is pure clickbait.

So you did not bother to watch the video, you were triggered by the thread title, congratulations.

This statement is factually true, but completely misleading.

You are insinuating that the OP wrote that text and that in your opinion anything written by the OP should be dismissed and completely ignored, presumably because you think you know everything.

That statement was actually posted in quote tags by the OP (go back to post #1) and is in fact the abstract posted by Carte Blanche on the YouTube video page:

 

[Gordon_R]

Then you are supposed to know that the average means absolutely nothing.

An average is important in establishing a background level, for epidemiological purposes. In the video they mention 3 times the background rate, which is barely statistically significant.

Living on top of a mine-dump is a whole different story, and I seriously hope nobody on this forum falls into that category.

Sensational journalism thrives on conflating personal grief, with an exaggerated sense of risk.

 

[Gordon_R]

I suggest you get yourself an uncapped connection, or use less bandwidth by simply ignoring the things that trigger insane responses.


So you did not bother to watch the video, you were triggered by the thread title, congratulations.


You are insinuating that the OP wrote that text and that in your opinion anything written by the OP should be dismissed and completely ignored, presumably because you think you know everything.

That statement was actually posted in quote tags by the OP (go back to post #1) and is in fact the abstract posted by Carte Blanche on the YouTube video page:

The title is BS, the text is BS, the video is BS.

I'm not triggered, except by stupid people who post things in a distorted way...

IMO the whole thread does not meet the criteria for posting in the news forum. The title is made up, and is not the name of the video, nor an accurate synopsis of the video.

 

[Tokolotshe]

The title is BS, the text is BS, the video is BS.

I'm not triggered, except by stupid people who post things in a distorted way...

IMO the whole thread does not meet the criteria for posting in the news forum. The title is made up, and is not the name of the video, nor an accurate synopsis of the video.

Do you mean I can stop building the spaceship in my backyard? We aren't doomed, we don't have to leave mother earth?

 

[rietrot]

An average is important in establishing a background level, for epidemiological purposes. In the video they mention 3 times the background rate, which is barely statistically significant.

Living on top of a mine-dump is a whole different story, and I seriously hope nobody on this forum falls into that category.

Sensational journalism thrives on conflating personal grief, with an exaggerated sense of risk.

The only problem is people living on top of a mine dump.
Why pretend that's insignificant. That's a shîtload of people.

Geez People from Cape Town that has never been inland.

 

[lumeer]

Ever since that Carte Blanche story about the guy who claimed to have built a quantum machine that could track down the remains of dead people, with which he aimed to find the remains of the Van Rooyen victims, I've not taken Carte Blanche too seriously. They're sort of on the boundary of credible and tabloid journalism and their stories can go either way.