[admin]

Radon gas deemed heathful by nutballs

Mainichi Daily News

"To many scientists, it's a gas so toxic it's almost evil. It's been singled out as the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, right behind smoking. It even killed the woman who discovered it - Madame Marie Curie. But to Shiro Umeda, sprightly at 74, radon is the best thing since aspirin. Every month for the past 10 years, he has come to a radon bath here to soak it up and breathe it in. He's convinced it has helped keep his back pain in check and contributed positively to his overall health. Undaunted by warnings from the scientific community that the highly radioactive gas is a carcinogen, tens of thousands of health-seekers like Umeda are drawn each year to hot springs in Japan, spas in Hungary, even mine shafts in rural Montana by claims that radon can cure a wide variety of ills."

Original link at: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/features/index.html