Anti-radiation article -Thoughts please!

["Aaron Oakley" <aoakley@receptor.pharm.uwa.edu.au>]

Comments please!

Your thoughts on the following (anti-radiation) article would be
appreciated!

Dr Aaron Oakley

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What is a SAFE DOSE of radiation?
The International Committee on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended
standard of 1
millisievert (1 mSv) annual maximum exposure for the public.
This translates, using ICRP's dose - response assumptions, to a risk
of 3.5 fatal cancers in 1000 people exposed annually over a lifetime of 70
years. This is a lifetime fatal cancer risk of 1 in 286.

The regulation of toxic substances in the U.S. looks protective in
comparison. These also allow a lethal risk to those exposed, but the limit
is
set at only 1 fatal cancer in 100,000 or in some cases, 1 in 10,000. Policy
makers also debate whether it is acceptable for industrial activities to
result in one death in a million. The nuclear industry is enjoying
tremendous privilege, literally a licence to kill members of the public
in the course of normal operations.

The dose limits for workers in the uranium mining industry are even more
dangerous.


Deaths per million workers
per year, worldwide:

Manufacturing workers                  110
Construction workers                    164
Radiation workers @ 3mSv       5,500
Radiation workers @ 20mSv  37,500
(mSv = milliSievert, a measurement of
radiation. Source: ICRP27/ICRP60)

These estimates all rest on the
shaky foundation that there is a safe
limit, a dose of radiation so low that
no harm results. Many studies,
bitterly disputed or ignored by the
industry, show that this is not the
case. Any dose of radiation can
increase the risk of disease.



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