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- Title
Analysis of the cancer occurrence related to natural radioactivity in the Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil.
- Authors
Martinelli, Simone; Medeiros, Amanda Nogueira; de Souza, Raquel Franco; Marconi, Agustina Maria; Navoni, Julio Alejandro
- Abstract
The state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Northeast region of Brazil, has areas of granites and pegmatites with minerals that have varying concentrations of uranium. Consequently, high concentrations of radon gas, a carcinogenic substance for humans, can occur. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of cancer and its association with exposure to sources of natural radioactivity using geological and geophysical information in the aforementioned state. The spatial dependence of pulmonary, breast, stomach, leukemia, and skin cancer cases with the location of radioisotope sources were analyzed using geoprocessing tools. The geoprocessing analysis showed a differential pattern of uranium emission throughout the state, with the highest emission from areas with pegmatites outcrops. A spatial dependency of cancer cases was shown (Moran index: 0.43; p < 0.01). Moreover, a higher rate of natural radioactivity-cancer cases was associated with the high-intensity natural radioactivity areas: odds ratio:1.21 (95% CI 1.20; 1.23), following the same pattern when separately compared the different related types of cancer. These results highlight the importance of natural radioactivity as a public health problem in the Brazilian environmental scenario, confirming the need for further studies as the first toward understanding and implementing health management strategies mitigating the exposures, especially in areas of environmental risk.
- Subjects
RIO Grande do Norte (Brazil); BRAZIL; NATURAL radioactivity; CARCINOGENS; ENVIRONMENTAL risk; PEGMATITES; SKIN cancer; BREAST
- Publication
Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 2023, Vol 30, Issue 38, p89140
- ISSN
0944-1344
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11356-023-28708-1