Re: Why study baby teeth?

[Bob Flood <bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

>> A  cancer cluster in Toms River, recognized by the Federal Government is
=
>> located about 10 miles  from the  Oyster Creek Nuclear Generator in  =
>> Forked River, NJ.
>
>It is a fact that clusters in some cases have absolutely nothing to
>do with anything, including the environment. In other words, there is
>no linkage to cause and effect. They are simply statistics without
>cause.

Actually, they do have a cause and are predictable. If you subdivide the
test population into enough small samples, it is inevitable that you will
find one or more of these samples showing characteristics that are very
different from large population averages. Much of the low dose research uses
this principle extensively. All of the cases where the small sample shows
more cancers than average are called harmful radiation effects, and all
cases where the sample shows lower athan average cancers are ignored. A
search street-by-street through a community near a nuclear plant will find
at least one street with a well above average number of cancers, and it will
be called an avoidable human tragedy. However, the neighboring streets with
zero cancers will not be identified as places that protect against cancer.
============================
Bob Flood
Dosimetry Group Leader
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
bflood@slac.stanford.edu


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