The efficacy of public health information for encouraging radon gas awareness and testing varies by audience age, sex and profession.

Radioactive radon inhalation is a leading cause of lung cancer and underlies an ongoing public health crisis. Radon exposure prevention strategies typically begin by informing populations about health effects, and their initial efficacy is measured by how well and how fast information convinces individuals to test properties. This communication process is rarely individualized, and there is little understanding if messages impact diverse demographics equally.

Younger North Americans are exposed to more radon gas due to occupancy biases within the residential built environment.

Residential buildings can concentrate radioactive radon gas, exposing occupants to particle radiation that increases lung cancer risk. This has worsened over time in North America, with newer residences containing greater radon. Using data from 18,971 Canadian households, we calculated annual particle radiation dose rates due to long term residential radon exposure, and examined this as a function of occupant demographics.

Radon exposure is rising steadily within the modern North American residential environment, and is increasingly uniform across seasons.

Human-made buildings can artificially concentrate radioactive radon gas of geologic origin, exposing occupants to harmful alpha particle radiation emissions that damage DNA and increase lung cancer risk. We examined how North American residential radon exposure varies by modern environmental design, occupant behaviour and season. 11,727 residential buildings were radon-tested using multiple approaches coupled to geologic, geographic, architectural, seasonal and behavioural data with quality controls.

Characterization of a food-based enteric coating for capsules and its compatibility with an alternative sealing method.

Efficiency of a new protein-based enteric coating for capsules was studied. Coating physical-chemical properties were compared to those obtained from a well-known methacrylate-based enteric coating (Eudragit). Swelling in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) was 20 times higher than for Eudragit films.

[Examples for asbestos-related findings in HRCT - criteria for the assessment of causal relationships in surveillance programmes and medical expert opinion].

The increasing use of high-resolution computed tomography in formerly asbestos-exposed workers requires valid diagnostic criteria for the findings which have to be reported as suspicious for being asbestos-related in surveillance programmes and for the assessment of causal relationships between former asbestos exposure and findings in computed tomography. The present article gives examples for asbestos-related findings in HR-CT and discusses the specificity of parenchymal and pleural changes due to asbestos fibres.