University of Calgary Scientists are collecting toenail samples for a lung cancer study. Dr. Aaron Goodarzi, a PhD researcher & professor at the University of Calgary, is leading this study from the forefront.
Emi Bossio, a 47-year-old woman who had a prosperous law practice and a stable, healthy life, raising two thriving children, found herself struggling to keep up with her daily life due to the nagging cough. Tobacco smoking is one of the primary and leading causes of lung cancer, followed by other causes like inadvertently inhaling secondhand smoke or polluted air, family lineage, exposure to radon and industry pollutants, etc.
Bossio was heedful of her diet and lifestyle choices. Speaking to Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, she said, “I never smoked, never. I ate nutritiously and stayed fit. I thought to myself, I can’t have lung cancer,” says Bossio. “It was super shocking. A cataclysmic moment. There are no words to describe it.” This medical condition led Bossio to leave her passionate law career, a difficult yet voluntary decision, and focus on her treatment.
Despite being clean throughout her life, she faced an unexpected health crisis. This propelled Bossio to be the change by stepping into a new role as a lung cancer advocate to spread and boost awareness while remaining oblivious of what caused hers. She also expressed a deep interest in Dr. Aaron’s study, focused on environmental risk factors for lung cancer, particularly radon, an odorless and colorless gas. Radon ranks second after smoking in causing lung cancer.
#UCalgary researchers have discovered that toenail clippings may reveal a person’s long-term exposure to radon gas and, potentially, lung cancer risk https://t.co/tokcil9qu2 @UCalgaryMed pic.twitter.com/WjeMrBD87Y
— U Calgary (@UCalgary) October 9, 2025
Going above and beyond for this study, UC Scientists are planning to collect 10,000 toenails from across Canada. Dr. Aaron Goodarzi says, “We’ve learned that our toenails hold long-term information about our exposure to radioactive toxicants in our environment, such as radon gas. They are one of our body’s archives of past exposure.” He further added, “After you inhale radon, it quite quickly transforms into a specific type of radioactive lead. Your body treats radioactive lead from radon like it does all lead and stores it in slow-shedding tissues such as the skin, hair, and nails.”
Dr. Michael Wieser, a PhD researcher & professor at the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary, is another co-working partner on this investigative study.
He said, “We believe we’ve discovered a reliable, quantitative way to measure long-term radon exposure at an individual level. We used a combination of personalized radiation dose epidemiology and isotope dilution mass spectrometry to evaluate ultrasensitive measurements of the radon decay product. We tested for lead isotopes in toenail cuttings and proved they can serve as a quantitative method to reveal lifetime radon exposure at an individual level.”
Article written by: FRSC Staff
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