Wafa Alimam and Anssi Auvinen from Tampere University, Finland, in RadoNorm’s WP4 (Effects & Risks) published their latest findings on “Cancer risk due to ingestion of naturally occurring radionuclides through drinking water: A systematic review” in Science of the Total Environment.

The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on cancer risk associated with radionuclide ingestion through drinking water, aiming to summarise and evaluate the current epidemiological evidence. Published studies have examined the effects of uranium, radium, and radon, while potential risks of polonium, radioactive lead, and thorium remain unknown. Existing research is heterogeneous regarding the assessed cancer types and faces methodological challenges. Due to lack of high-quality evidence, it is not possible to confirm or rule out an increased cancer risk among highly exposed populations. The paper calls for future studies to focus on populations with high radionuclide exposure to provide sufficient exposure contrast, prioritising radionuclides with high-dose coefficients and cancers in tissues with the highest radionuclide deposition.

This and more RadoNorm publications can be found on the website.