ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a number of risk models and their underlying assumptions. It discusses results obtained with these models to epidemiological data on radiogenic lung cancer obtained since the models were developed to test their ability to predict the temporal distribution of lung cancer death observed in underground miners exposed to relatively low levels of radon progeny. The chapter addresses some of the difficulties inherent in modeling a general population and suggest some tests that could be applied to the dosimetric models that are being developed by the national council on radiation protection and measurements and international commission on radiological protection. Modeling the risk of lung cancer due to the inhalation of radon progeny is not as simple as current models imply. The manner in which radon-Induced lung cancers are distributed in time, after a minimum induction period, is a crucial factor in numerical risk estimates.
