Radon Linked To Heart Failure Risk In Aging Women

MONDAY, Nov. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Radon gas is already known to cause cancer, but a new study suggests it may also affect heart health.

Older women appear to have a higher risk of heart failure if they live in areas with higher indoor radon levels, researchers reported Nov. 5 in JAMA Network Open.

Women past menopause are more likely to both develop heart failure and die from the condition if exposed long-term to high radon levels, researchers found.

If confirmed, these findings suggest that ridding your home of radon could have heart health benefits “analogous to the once-unrecognized benefits of smoking cessation, long before cigarette and environmental tobacco smoke were identified as risk factors for non-pulmonary disease,” senior researcher Dr. Eric Whitsel said in a news release.

He’s a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas naturally released from soil and rocks that can seep into homes through crawlspaces, basement floor slabs, or porous or cracked foundation walls.

Radon has long been recognized as the nation’s second-leading cause of lung cancer, following smoking, researchers said in background notes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends testing all homes and reducing indoor radon levels above 4 picocuries per liter of air, researchers said. Estimates suggest about one-quarter of Americans live in places that exceed this level.

For the new study, researchers tracked the health of more than 43,000 postmenopausal women, nearly a quarter (23%) of whom were exposed to radon levels above the EPA limit.

Overall, women had a 19% higher risk of heart failure if they had been exposed to high levels of radon than those living with lower levels, researchers found.

Women living with heavy radon levels were also 37% more likely to die from heart failure and 24% more likely to develop heart failure that reduces the amount of blood that the heart can pump, the study found.

“What they were finding was that the heart was not pumping as efficiently, and that could lead to heart failure. That would be a direct result of some of the radiation effects,” said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, chair and senior vice president of occupational health, epidemiology and prevention at Northwell Health in New York City.

“It may be related to the effect of radiation on the heart,” Moline added. “It can impact the muscles themselves. It could cause inflammation.”

These results put fresh emphasis on having your home tested for radon, experts said.

“Get your house tested. It's an easy test,” Moline said. “And if the radon levels are elevated, then reach out to the appropriate folks who can fix the leaks in your foundation or put in the appropriate fans or do what's necessary to decrease the radon levels, so it's safer for the homeowners and their families.”

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on radon.

SOURCES: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, news release, Nov. 5, 2026; JAMA Network Open, Nov. 5, 2026; Dr. Jacqueline Moline, chair and senior vice president of occupational health, epidemiology and prevention, Northwell Health, New York City