Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's health ministry has started a plan to detect Radon gas in homes, which is the most common cause of lung cancer, said Ali Gourani, an official with Iran's health ministry.
The plan is tentatively implemented in Alborz Province and will be implemented in other parts of the country gradually, Iran's IRNA news agency quoted Gourani as saying on July 11.
The plan is aimed to find out how much Iranians are exposed to the gas, and what measures are to be taken to reduce the exposition, he added.
The measures could be defining substances which are used in construction materials as well as in water desalination and treatment, he noted.
Radon is a colorless, odorless gas, normally found at very low levels in outdoor air and in drinking water from rivers and lakes. It can be found at higher levels in the air in houses and other buildings, as well as in water from underground sources, such as well water.
Cigarette smoking is by far the most common cause of lung cancer in the world, but radon is the second leading cause.
Statistics show that some 90,000 cancer cases are reported in Iran annually, of which 55,000 culminate in death.