Re: ICRP 2 standard

["Michael Stabin" <michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu>]

>The "public" doesn't demand such extremes for rad limits, its just that

after lying to them for 50 years the public doesn't understand the factors.

It's easy for bureaucrats, politicians, and the industry to play the rad

card to get "public support" for extreme costs and votes.



Truthfulness is not the issue here, it's simply cautious (perhaps overly

cautious) design, and it was not for the purpose of getting big bucks but

for protecting workers and the public when uncertainties exist. Remember

that the original push for lower limits (down from 15-50 rem per year to 5

rem per year) was made by scientists worried about genetic effects. The

scientific case for not worrying about this in humans (of course maintaining

a strict 5 rem/yr limit for occupationally exposed fruit flies) can easily

be made, based on plentiful data. The suggested change from 5 rem/yr to 2

rem/yr was due to somatic effects. I agree that there are two ways to see

the data of BEIR V, but I don't agree that the recommendations for more

restrictive limits were made for such trivial and self-serving reasons as

you assert. If a convincing case can be made that this is too restrictive,

to the scientific bodies (first), they will accept it, then that will be

accepted by the regulatory bodies and then the public. The scientists who

developed these recommendations were and are men and women of good

character, this is evident in Lauriston Taylor's detailed historical

accounts. The scoundrels in some of these activist political groups that

have indeed lied to the public should be held accountable for this, but your

characterization of the scientific community is quite unfair.





Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP

Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Vanderbilt University

1161 21st Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37232-2675

Phone (615) 322-3190

Fax   (615) 322-3764

e-mail  michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu









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