[ RadSafe ] Radiation for health

[Bjorn Cedervall]

> Does anyone actually believe in LNT? It certainly makes it easy to produce > an effect regulatory frame work, but I do not think it is true.
LNT is an administrative tool - the actual shape in the lower dose region (say less
than 10 mGy as an acute dose) will probably never be known. We can only do
"educated guesses" based on molecular and other phenomena + clinical information
we study in various ways - their potential relevance depending on context etc.
 
Bearing this in mind, it shouldn't be about believing. I am personally convinced that
a single ionization may be the first step in a series of events that ultimately may
result in an aggressive tumor. This does not make me think that the detailed
dose-response has any particular shape - and furthermore it does not make me
particularly worried about radiation. High blood pressure for instance should
be of much larger concern for most people than getting some extra and trivial
dose of ionizing radiation exposure (I did my first radiation experiments (with
Co-60 and an X-ray tube) in high school more than 40 years ago.
 
My personal reflections only,
 
Bjorn Cedervall
 
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