European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 25,1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 is Ken Georgea View of the 500-year-old spa at bad Munster West Germany where thousand of patients under the West German National health plan Are treated with radon Gas. Spa does t share . Fear of radon Gas by Janet d Agostino medical writer As the fear of radon Gas builds in the United states spas in West Germany and Austria continue a decades old practice of using the Gas As a treatment for rheumatism gout arthritis and other ailments. . Scientists have linked prolonged exposure to elevated Levels of the possibly fatal Gas to lung cancer but in West Germany National health insurance picks up the Tab for radon treatment. It s not just some kind of hoax said Norbert Schneider director of the 500-year-old bad Munster spa in the Nahe Valley of Northwestern Germany. The spa recently used full Page color ads in a Ger Man Magazine to promote its radon therapy which is backed by years of scientific studies Schneider said. Radon treatment has been used at the spa since the beginning of the Century when it was discovered in the Spring water Schneider said in an interview at the spa where 28,000 people usually age 60 and older come yearly for the Thermal brine and radon cures. In the 1960s, the radon Gas was filtered out of the water so it could be administered in a purer form he said. Schneider claims the radon Gas used at the spa is not damaging because harmful elements such As cadmium Zinc and Lead Are filtered from it. The unfiltered radon Gas found in Homes and buildings is harmful because it is not circulated to the outside air and hangs stagnant he said. To receive radon treatment the spa s clients sit in chairs under Clear Bubble like hoods resembling old fashioned driers used in hair salons. The clients sit Back and breathe the Gas coming from a yellow mask 2 or 3 inches from the face. Radon also is administered in Baths where patients breathe the Gas that bubbles up through the water. The dosage and duration of radon treatment Are individually regulated by the spa s medical doctors Schneider said. The Levels of radon administered Range Between 12 to 15 Nan curies per liter of air and the treatments last Between 10 and 15 minutes depending on the patient. A Nan Curie is 1,000 times larger than a Pic Curie. The . Environmental Protection Agency cites radon Levels above 4 Pic curies per liter of air in Homes and other buildings As dangerous. By Epa standards a Reading greater than 20 Pic curies of radon per liter of air Calls for immediate action to vent or repair buildings. The Healing Quality of radon has been discussed for years in Germany but with unclear results according to the West German health ministry. The ministry reports successful treatment with radon therapy but How psychological and geographical factors influence treatment is difficult to determine it said. Is Ken George Norbert Schneider not just some kind of hoax or. Col Robert l. Schneider chief of orthopaedics at the Frankfurt army regional medical Center docs not believe there is any medical Benefit to radon therapy. But he said there could be a psychological Benefit for patients who Are depressed Over a severe arthritic condition. A Placebo can provide temporary improvement he said. Or. Col Thomas j. Egan chief of the department of primary care and Rheuma ology at Frankfurt also advised against radon therapy. We have no experience with this he said adding that most of the studies on radon therapy have been done in the soviet Union. Radon therapy could have a potential for medical use in the future but Only after thorough conclusive studies proving it is beneficial he said. The German health ministry statement said there is no danger of radiation sickness from radon therapy because patients usually receive treatment Only once a year for a few weeks. But it said treatment should be administered with a medical doctor s supervision. Maj. H. Merrick Harrison chief of the radiological Hygiene Branch at the 10th medical Laboratory in Lan Stuhl West Germany said it would be difficult to determine whether there were any harmful effects from radon treatments administered at european health spas without knowing the precise dosage and duration of treatment. Radon treatments probably do not pose a serious health risk if the exposure is Brief he said. But in general it is Wiser not to be unnecessarily exposed to radiation he added. In the United states the danger of radon is still being disputed. Some health experts in the states said the Epa exaggerates the danger of radon and the Levels that Are harmful according to a december article inthe scientific american. The article stated that a new study of radon and cancer risk challenges Basic assumptions about the danger of Low level  the study done by a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh found that death from lung cancer is significantly lower where radon exposure is High the opposite of what is  Harrison said some people in the United states sub scribe to a theory known As Hormess which claims that Low Levels of radiation exposure help prevent can cer. Contributing to this report staff writer Regina Kirkendall