The Stir of Waters: Radiation, Risk, and the Radon Spa of Jachymov

by Paul Voosen

Tucked away in the Ore Mountains of northwest Bohemia, near the German border, is the radon spa of Jachymov. For 100 years, arthritic pensioners have eased themselves into the spa's radioactive waters, seeking respite. Many return every year and swear by the treatment. It's the oldest radon spa in the world. From the attached mine's waste the Curies isolated radium; later, after the Soviets seized it, it became a gulag and Stalin's first source of uranium.Several years ago, Paul Voosen, a science reporter based in Washington, DC, visited Jachymov, drawn by the certainty of its doctors, its history, the counter-intuitive notion that radiation could, in any way, be beneficial. And what he found there, and later, in visits with U.S. scientists studying the health effects of low-dose radiation, is a science far less certain than we assume, and a spa and town that have an outsized, if little known, influence on all our lives.

Genres: Nonfiction

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2011

Reviews

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Kindle Singles: good structure, no false promises, and a nice weaving of science, history, and present-day narrative. Interesting, too, that it brings attention to a spa in Central Europe and how people continue to benefit, or at least perceive they benefit, from the radiated waters even when it's unclear how or if what they're doing is healthful. The essay touches upon how biology is not a case of all or nothing, and how fear of too much of something might prevent treatment with just the right amount.

[Ecapris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on my review site: http://www.ecapris.com

I don't like talking on my cell phone or resting my laptop directly on my lap.

I don't stand in front of the microwave.

It unnerves me to wear the heavy vest during dental xrays.

But in Jachymov, a radon spa in the Czech Republic, patients will submerge themselves in a radon bath for 20 minutes. Some patients take these baths up to six times per week. It's the ultimate bubble bath, where the radon causes your skin to tingle, like "cooking you" as you relax. They likely indulge because of a belief in "hormesis - the possibility that small doses of radiation stimulate healing..."

Sheesh. Sounds terrifying.

And yet again, there is debate - it seems that everything in the ever-expanding field of science is debated, and obviously the health benefits of radiation exposure will not be excluded.

For those who suffer from autoimmune diseases (specifically Rheumatoid Arthritis), a radon bath is claimed to ease their pain (for some patients, it relieves them for 75% of the year).

It is also "beneficial" for other afflictions, although there is no empirical evidence to back any of this up. It doesn't necessicate writing it off as quackery; it's simply sympomatic of recording the benefits of something that cannot be tested.

Scientists can prove when radiation tears apart a cell, but they can't prove when it makes it healthier. According to William Morgan of Pacific Northwest Lab, "We focus on the negative because we cannot measure the positive."

Yet Jachymov is a thriving spa. Even though patients have to deal with the concerns of their friends and family, they attend the spa any (and regularly). Why are they not as afraid of cancer or radiation poisoning?

Perceived risk, that's why.

For many patients, they accept the facts that a third of the general population will develop cancer without radon baths. They agree with the argument that countless individuals smoke cigarettes, even though the risk of cancer is unavoidably high and they have no documented health benefits whatsoever.

And the radon baths make them feel remarkably better. So they take them.

I agree:

"Few symbols cause more fear than the trefoil, the tri-part yellow and black blossom that emblazons radioactive materials - a macabre fleur-de-lis."

Yet, according to Voosen, many senior citizens lower themselves into the baths and inhale gas "simmering with radiation." They believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

Although this doesn't fall into the same realm of law and science, this topic is quite similar to another, more American, debate that is currently hot in the voting booths and legislature: medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana, though federally illegal, is now being sanctioned by numerous American states. The debate is fueled by these two opposing sides: though their are some negative effects (claims of cancer risk, induced drug usage in community children, increased crime rates, etc), there are numerous health benefits to those that are terminally ill and suffering.However, many argue that smoking something couldn't possibly help someone that's sick, yet the opposing side provides evidence that medical marijuana does not increase cancer risk, but actually decreases it!

This is what happens when something that has such a negative reputation (radon, marijuana) is perceived by some members of the scientific community as actually having more benefits than risks.

Many can't separate themselves from their previous way of thinking, even when presented with facts that debilitate their former beliefs.

"The Stir of Waters" didn't necessarily debilitate my belief on the dangers of radon. But it certainly bolstered my awe of the dual nature of any element. Nothing is completely bad; nothing is completely good. And though it may be a long time coming before scientific evidence can prove the health benefits of radon, I don't necessarily think that radon bathers are crazy.

How do you feel about perceived risk? Are there other controversial topics that hinge on perceived risk?