Live data from Hacker News

Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

nytimes.com

51–60 of 361 posts

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#51

Are lung cancer rates up? Obviously eliminating or reducing the primary cause will lead to larger percentages of the other causes among cases.

On the surface, the data from the American Lung Association appears to support that hypothesis...

https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/lung-ca...

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just talking to my wife about playgrounds using shredded tires as the "mulch". I don't know where the rubber comes from, if and how it is cleaned, or what particulate material it carries, but it seems dubious at best.

It's banned for new installs in Europe and existing installations have to be replaced by 2031 [1] - although primarily to get rid of a microplastics emission source. Additionally, shredded tire rubber as infill is investigated for being contaminated with PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) [2]. [1] https://www.hna.de/lokales/kreis-kassel/kreis-kassel-eu-verb... [2] https://playground-landscape.com/de/article/2033-…

> primarily to get rid of a microplastics emission source

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that inhaled microplastics were causing an increase in lung cancers. We know they end up deep in the lungs.

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#53
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get it. My wife drives a big SUV. She is a small lady, and says the car let's her see the road better and overall feel more safe. Back when SUV's started to get popular, this was a trend they noticed as well. Back then, it was met with a lot of guffaws about yuppie housewives and all that. (This was before the term Karen had been coined)

But she's making everyone else less safe by driving in her tank-mobile. Those are much more deadly to pedestrians, cyclists, and those in smaller vehicles.

It's also an arms race where everyone buys bigger cars to see over all the other giant cars on the road. SUVs have been shown many times to be less safe, even for their drivers, but they give a feeling of safety which matters more than actual safety to buyers.

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think most people are actually doing really high temp wok cooking at home regardless of ethnic background. My impression is that, while woks are more common for home cooking in china (not chinese americans, mind you), even there home cooking is usually not done at the high temperatures that restaurants use.

It's easy, incredibly easy, to overheat cookingware unintentionally. Add oil to a pan/wok that's overheated and it decomposes. Additionally, if the cookingware is coated with Teflon, above 300 °C this degrades into toxic compounds and can lead to "teflon flu" [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_fume_fever

Asian-Americans specifically have higher levels of PTFE in their blood too:

https://pfasproject.com/2023/08/25/asian-americans-have-much...

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#55
post #20

Every time you look up something related to Radon, it's always cited as "the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking" I wonder if that's really true. Radon is a big deal where I live. Most homes have a radon mitigation system which is a 20-watt fan that goes over your sump pump hole, and runs continuously to a vent on the roof.

I bought an Airthings radon monitor because of that stat, and one thing that I have learned is that those mitigation systems do not necessarily work. I have a system that works, but initially, even though my house had a system, it did not reliably keep the radon levels below the federal action level. Barometric pressure, temperature, and HVAC all seem to have some bearing - tightening the house for air leaks actually…

My house is a raised foundation and they covered all the ground underneath with plastic and put perforated pipes underneath that pull the air out. Radon went down 10x. The company has a 5 year guarantee.

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#56

I used to live by a busy street in a semi-dense part of town. Cars would be going around 45mph. When I moved from that apartment after 4 years. I was shocked by the amount of black dust covering everything. from the walls to the shelves and floors. I think it was all tire pollution so switching to 100% electric won't mitigate. It was pretty shocking and I wondered how much i increased my risk for lung cancer or other…

The lungs are exposed to air, but they're also exposed to a lot of bloodborne compounds, since a full vascular cycle goes through the pulmonary arteries.

The null hypothesis is "it's something in the air", but with the increase in non-lung cancers in young people[1] noted over the past decade, it's entirely possible it's something else, and lung tissue is one of the susceptible ones to whatever it is.

[1] https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2025...

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#57
post #20

Every time you look up something related to Radon, it's always cited as "the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking" I wonder if that's really true. Radon is a big deal where I live. Most homes have a radon mitigation system which is a 20-watt fan that goes over your sump pump hole, and runs continuously to a vent on the roof.

I bought an Airthings radon monitor because of that stat, and one thing that I have learned is that those mitigation systems do not necessarily work. I have a system that works, but initially, even though my house had a system, it did not reliably keep the radon levels below the federal action level. Barometric pressure, temperature, and HVAC all seem to have some bearing - tightening the house for air leaks actually…

> tightening the house for air leaks actually did a lot of good in keeping levels low

Wait, really? Intuitively I would expect the opposite, that a draftier house is better for radon levels indoors

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#58

Are lung cancer rates up? Obviously eliminating or reducing the primary cause will lead to larger percentages of the other causes among cases.

Yes, also, the base rate of smoking in different groups is important to take into consideration to prevent the base rate fallacy.

Very few Chinese American women smoke (~2%), so if smokers and non-smokers have the same chance of getting lung cancer not caused by smoking, then the number of non-smokers with lung cancer will be a larger proportion.

If 100% of some group would be non-smokers, then obviously 100% of lung cancer cases in that group will be in non-smokers.

It's similar to misinterpreting the fact that most people that were hospitalized from Covid-19 were vaccinated.

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#59
post #44

> Many Lung Cancers Are Now in Nonsmokers. Scientists Want to Know Why Because hypocrisy does not live long. They blamed cigarettes for lung cancer, ignoring all other causes. "Oh, you have cancer but didn't smoke ? You surely were inhaling cigarettes smoke from somebody else.". We can polute further with no repercursions.

smokers thirds FYI: - one third dies a direct smoking related death - one third suffers from smoking related diseases then dies - one third dies of something else, younger than the other two

Re: Many lung cancers are now in nonsmokers

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's banned for new installs in Europe and existing installations have to be replaced by 2031 [1] - although primarily to get rid of a microplastics emission source. Additionally, shredded tire rubber as infill is investigated for being contaminated with PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) [2]. [1] https://www.hna.de/lokales/kreis-kassel/kreis-kassel-eu-verb... [2] https://playground-landscape.com/de/article/2033-…

> primarily to get rid of a microplastics emission source I wouldn't be surprised to learn that inhaled microplastics were causing an increase in lung cancers. We know they end up deep in the lungs.

Personally, I more suspect vehicles. We got a grip on particulate emissions from diesel engines, but brakes and tires still emit fine dust particles. The average one way commute is 30 minutes in the US, so you're breathing in pretty filthy air for an hour a day...
Post reply on HN