RE: Midyear talk

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

>Most animals don't live long enough to get cancer.  



I've wondered about that, I would like to learn more about this.



>This seems to be just another effort to (a) get research money for a

project whose evaluation will be so difficult that anything would be

acceptable, and/or (2) just another anti-nuke ploy.



Some people at the Midyear were indeed of the opinion that this would

really be a huge waste of money. I don't think the main motives are

either "easy money for dumb research" or anti-nuclear. I think it is a

logical extension of pro-environmental thought, and it is part of the

definition of health physics ("protection of humans and the environment

from the harmful effects of radiation while permitting its beneficial

applications"). While at Oak Ridge, we got more than one request for

radiation dose calculations for animal species (fish near power plants,

animals getting nuclear medicine exams). I don't think it's a completely

improper question, but I also think it's an area that should be

thoroughly debated before many resources are committed to it. 



We are doing some development now (and we are not the first) to develop

some standard mouse and rat models for dosimetry, because in the testing

of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals one sometimes needs help explaining

radiotoxic effects in the animal trials. The standard internal dose

assumption that all beta energy is absorbed in the organ in which it is

emitted does not hold for high energy betas in tiny animal organs, and

significant organ cross irradiation can occur.



Mike





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) 343-0068

Fax   (615) 322-3764

Pager (615) 835-5153

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

internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com

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