[ RadSafe ] Is it SAFE?

[Stabin, Michael]

I, of course, got Clay's joke immediately. If some took it seriously, they have proven these corollaries to the "there is no safe dose of radiation" assertion: 
 
- there is no safe level of internet humor. Someone out there with a sour puss will certainly flame you if you make a veiled attempt at humor, and, if they can afford a lawyer, they may also sue you.
 
- there is no safe level of exposure to any chemical species on the planet. They mostly all cause cancer, and if this is true at high levels, it must also be true at trivially low levels. Has anyone on this list ever had a diet drink? If so, you are of course doomed.
 
- there is no safe level of exposure to anti-nuclear extremists.  As I pointed out in my 1999 HP Newsletter article, “Most antinuclear activists don’t publicize this, but they are all secretly carrying around in their bodies on average about 180,000,000 atoms of plutonium!  There is always a finite, if however small, chance that one of these activists could explode at any moment.  If this were to happen, all of this plutonium could conceivably be spread across the entire United States.  As it is well known that just a single decay of a radioactive atom can instantly induce cancer, considerably more than half of the US population would be immediately at risk.  Should two activists explode, our country could be wiped out instantly.” OK, this is an international list, chance “US” to “planet” if you wish, no need to send me nasty emails or put a bomb under my car (leave that to the animal rights whackos).

- nothing at all, in any facet of this earthly existence, is safe. Do you take showers? I certainly hope so, for your family’s and co-worker’s sake. If you do, your life is at constant risk; the number of people dying from falls in their showers each year is staggering. Do you drive a car? How many times a week do you drive past someone (or you) who just staggered out of a bar or restaurant after having a drink or two (if a 0.08 alcohol level is dangerous certainly 0.01 is 1/8 as dangerous, therefore potentially lethal). Anyone seen anyone using a cell phone while driving recently?

- If you believe that there is no safe level of exposure to radiation, suicide may be your only option, as you are being bathed in showers of massively carcinogenic gamma rays and breathing lethal levels of radon as you read my various ramblings here. 

I hope many of you read the recent piece by myself and Dr. Siegel discussing “the imposing figure of Sir
Lawrence Olivier as Dr. Szell in the movie Marathon Man—holding an implement of torture in one hand
and a salve of numbing balm in the other, and asking with insistence “IS IT SAFE?” If not, here’s your free download (http://www.doseinfo-radar.com/Roentgen_Shrugged.pdf). Is it too late to hope for the use of objective data in science, or will the NY Times, Caldicotts, Busbys, Goffmans and Sternglasses of this world determine for society what is allegedly ‘safe’? 



Mike

(yes, yes, my opinions only, blah freakin blah)


Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675
Phone (615) 343-4628
Fax   (615) 322-3764
e-mail     michael.g.stabin at vanderbilt.edu
internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com