Confounding effects of lifestyle-related factors on cancer risk from low-dose radiation

Epidemiological studies on cancer morbidity/mortality from low-dose radiation sometimes produce apparently statistically significant findings. The degrees of significance, however, are often quite low, and the results are possibly confounded by effects, such as lifestyle-related factors, which may have a strong impact on cancer morbidity/mortality and thus result in false-positives. Here, we discuss these possibilities in the light of the results of the Phase II Epidemiological Survey on Low-Dose Exposure of Radiation Workers.