Background radiation, Geiger counters, and health effects

["Richard L. Hess" <lists@richardhess.com>]

This discussion of Electromet and Niagara has me confused again. Sorry to 

burden you.



Here's my confusion:



There are concerns that there are illnesses caused or exacerbated by 

radiation in the Niagara area, and possibly in the St. Louis area.



Isn't it a trivial matter to measure radiation in many areas--walk around 

with a Geiger counter in the simplest form--and compare this to background?



Now I understand that our two scientists are attempting to reconstruct 

historical data but, from the perspective of moving forward, wouldn't a 

survey of the area set people's minds at ease?



Now I know you folks aren't a fan of the Aware radiation monitors because 

of the way they're marketed, but they contain real, thin-walled G-M tubes 

and interface to small computers--I use my RM-70 (the mid level one with 

the 7231 mini-pancake tube) with my HP-100LX palmtop computer.



I discovered last summer that the Berkeley Pit in Butte Montana had a 

background level of about 30µR/hr at the west side parking lot (behind the 

berm, not out on the observation platform), which is about double to triple 

the background I experience here in Glendale, CA (about 10µR/hr at my 10th 

floor office and about 14µR/hr in my home office which is cut into 

decomposed granite. This tube is sensitive to alpha particles as well as 

beta and gamma.



For response specs of the tube, look at http://www.aw-el.com/specs.htm



So, anyway, for a couple of hundred bucks, here you have a good, logging 

radiation monitor. I run a GPS as I travel and try and sync the clocks 

between the HP100LX and the GPS so I have a time stamp of when the 

radiation occurred and I have a GPS Log of where I was at that time.



I don't know, but if the background radiation is less than Denver, aren't 

we safe from radiation? People in Denver and above seem reasonably healthy.



Yes, we should probably probe people's basements (they have them in 

Niagara, unlike here in Southern California--and I miss having one) for 

radiation, but does this come from the dumping amd the legacy of production 

of radioactive materials or does it come from the granite that makes up the 

Niagara Escarpment? (It is granite, isn't it?) If you really want to 

appreciate the Escarpment, drive west on the 401 towards London from 

Toronto and you'll see a REALLY LONG line of it. It's not just at the Falls.



Anyway, I keep telling people having some radiation monitors makes me feel 

really safe. To me, the fear of radiation is it's attacking me without 

being able to be seen. Well, with radiation monitors, I feel safe. I know 

if I'm receiving more than I should. And yes, I've logged a portion of a 

transcontinental flight and got to a rate of about 225µR/hr on one leg, Los 

Angeles to Chicago.



Anyway, what am I missing here about the health risks? If I have a 

background of 14µR/hr at home and only 10µR/hr at work, does that mean 

anything? I think not. Yes, LNT would show this to be a calculable risk, 

but how does that compare risk-wise to sitting on a beach in the hot 

Southern California Sun for three hours? How about standing in the middle 

of a golf course with a metal umbrella during a lightning storm (not 

recommended)?



Anyway, please tell me what this is all about? I understand we want to know 

where stuff is buried so we can make sure it doesn't leak out, but I don't 

understand what two obviously bright people are spending their time trying 

to do with going over the records from the 1940s and early 1950s. My thesis 

is, if there is a problem, we can see it on instruments. If the instruments 

show us no problem, then I don't see the problem.



Again, my being an outsider to this field might have me missing something.



Thanks for reading.



Cheers,



Richard



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