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This was the first recorded case of lung cancer caused by radon. At the time people still did not know about the existence of radon. A lot of miners died from a “mysterious disease” caused by some sort of “gas”.
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Radon was discovered by Sir William Ramsay. He determined the mass of the newly discovered gas and placed it into category 18 in the periodic table. Friedrich E. Dorn is also credited for the discovery. He discovered that the radioactive gas decayed from uranium.
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People started to use radon as medicine and for treatments. They used it to treat cancer because it killed the cancer cells. However, if it was not used properly healthy cells and reverse the treatment. Eventually people found better ways to treat cancer and soon they discarded the idea of using radon.
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Radon was called Niton when it was first discovered. In, 1923 it was officially named radon.
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After being studied, radon was added to the the periodic table. It was placed in group five and period 6.
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EPA set up a National Radon Month to raise awareness of radon. It occurs all through January. In this event people are encouraged to test for radon and learn more about radon.
