 In 1879, this condition was identified as lung cancer by Harting and Hesse in their investigation of miners from Schneeberg, Germany.The first major studies with radon and health occurred in the context of uranium mining in the Joachimsthal region of Bohemia.In the US, studies and mitigation only followed decades of health effects on uranium miners of the Southwestern US employed during the early Cold War; standards were not implemented until 1971.