Reporting

["Grimm, Lawrence" <LGrimm@ADMIN.UCLA.EDU>]

Hi all:

As a tie to Michael Kent's posting regarding using large sounding numbers
and the Mangano thread, I offer the following amusing story.

Mangano's article (I will not call it a paper)cites a work by Karl Johnson.
Johnson's article is another scientific gem of hogwash epidemiology.  In it,
he makes a case that Denver was in deep trouble from Rocky Flats emissions
as shown by the disparity of measurements between Denver and New York city.
He measured air emissions at 1000 attoCuries in Denver and 30 attoCuries in
New York, a 30 times difference! (there was no clue in the article what the
volume of measure was, nor sampling technique, etc.)  

For those of you who cannot remember (I had to look it up at the time) an
attoCurie, it equals 10E-18, or roughly 2 disintegrations per year.  He must
have had some hellacious counting equipment to get this low. Would you hang
your scientific hat on a 30 times difference at the attoCurie level?  I
wouldn't.       

Larry Grimm
	UCLA EH&S/ Radiation Safety Division
*	On Campus: 501 Westwood Plaza, 4th Floor, MS 951605
*	Off Campus: UCLA Radiation Safety Div, 501 Westwood Plaza 4th Fl,
Box 951605, Los Angeles, 	CA 90095-1605
*	lgrimm@admin.ucla.edu   Phone:310/206-0712   Fax: 310/206-9051
*	If this email is not RSD business, the opinions are mine, not
UCLA's.
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