"Todd Sileen, a rage-driven cripple, ekes out a living in a spectacularly wasted East London borough. Radon daughters is a comic and alarming epic about a city and a society shredded by random violence and uncontrollable compulsions."--Book Jacket.

In this vibrant account, Edelstein and Makofske unveil the complex mix of social and scientific factors that have led to public and official misunderstanding of the geologic radon issue.

This book describes hazards from radon progeny and other alpha-emitters that humans may inhale or ingest from their environment. In their analysis, the authors summarize in one document clinical and epidemiological evidence, the results of animal studies, research on alpha-particle damage at the cellular level, metabolic pathways for internal alpha-emitters, dosimetry and microdosimetry of radionuclides deposited in specific tissues, and the chemical toxicity of some low-specific-activity alpha-emitters. Techniques for estimating the risks to humans posed by radon and other internally deposited alpha-emitters are offered, along with a discussion of formulas, models, methods, and the level of uncertainty inherent in the risk estimates.