Radiation hypersensitivity

["Jerry Cohen" <jjcohen@PRODIGY.NET>]

From: Prof.Dr.Klaus.Becker <Prof.Dr.Klaus.Becker@t-online.de>

 >We should perhaps think a little about this question of "radiation

>allergy"

> and how to deal with it, before it is (technically and legally) feasible

to

> do large-scale genetic screening, e.g. of radiation workers. Obviously,

>the

> percentage must be small, but does any of you have good data or arguments?



     I think  the possibility that some individuals may be hypersensitive to

radiation deserves serious consideration. A good analogy to this situation

can be found in the field of Industrial Hygiene as pertains to Beryllium

exposure. From past observations it is apparent that the most workers who

have experienced  high levels of exposure exhibit no harmful effects, while

a certain few show very serious effects and death from even the slightest

exposure.

    Given a situation of this nature, how should we determine what a "safe"

exposure level should be?

>From a societal standpoint, is it in the best interests of public health to

protect the most sensitive person, or what? Considering that some people may

be sensitive (allergic) to just about anything, to what extent should we go

to: (a) find such people and isolate them from possible exposure, or (b)

restrict or eliminate the offending agent from use? One problem I envision

assuming that some day  we could identify radio-hypersensitive individuals,

should we restrict their travel to high background radiation areas?

[jjcohen@prodigy.net]





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