Enquête : niveau de connaissance de la population au sujet du radon en Suisse

Survey: Knowledge level of the population about radon in Switzerland. In 1995, a survey was conducted in order to investigate levels of knowledge about radon among the Swiss population. In 2008, a second survey, using a similar methodology, was carried out by the FOPH. The new study showed that about 40% of the Swiss population has heard of radon, which represents an increase of 8% over the 1995 survey. Most of the respondents knew that radon causes lung cancer, but believed that the gas also produces other health effects - in particular, migraine and skin conditions. In addition, older people, those with a high level of education and property owners tended to be more familiar with the radon issue than the public at large. The inhabitants of high-risk regions achieved markedly better results, which demonstrate that information campaigns in these regions have been successful. At the same time, additional communication efforts are required in low- and medium- risk municipalities, where the majority of the population lives.