John,
Regarding your statement: "My belief is that protection standards should be set to protect
all exposed, not just those with the least sensitive to the toxin."
The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists establishes its Threshold Limit Values for airborne contaminants based on the airborne concentrations of substances that represent conditions under which nearly all workers may be exposed day after day without adverse effect. Why should radiation be treated any differently?
While using hormesis to set limits may be going too far, it certainly seems reasonable to base occupational limits on the effects expected for nearly all workers.
For the public, we should certainly try to protect everyone but, in a world of finite resources and a multitude of problems, we need to draw the line somewhere. The real problem is, of course, how to make sure the money that isn't spent on reducing soil contamination by another order of magnitude gets spent on immunizing children.
Regards,
Ben
ben.morgan@pgnmail.com