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RE: FW: Sickening Solar Flares -Error in Comparison to Dental x-rays
In my estimation, and from what I can glean from this report, it appears to recycled information froma press release which would date some 3 or so decades in the past. It looks like they pulled up a very old press release and plugged in the germane numbers without taking into account what has been learned in the interim. 20-30 years ago, a dental x-ray probably caused 1Rem of exposure. At that time, they also probably thought that 300 Rem would be inconsequential if spread out over a few days to a week. Now we know better. You suck up 40 Rem per day for a week and you will most likely be one sick puppy come Sunday afternoon (this is of course making the assumption that the exposure period began on the previous Monday ... ). I agree that this must have reached publication without the prior input from their Rad Professionals ... but ... why has there been no retraction from the site since the publication? Surely the Rad Staff at NASA read their own stuff ... Especially with a !
title like that one. It cannot have escaped notice. Whoever their Chief Information Officer is, has either been duped or someone is asleep at the wheel. Well ... whatever the case may be, if the opportunity presents its self, I would like to be the first to volunteer to be their tech consultant on such matters. I'm sure the gig pays decent and I've wanted to work for NASA ever since I saw my first episode of 'I Dream of Jeanie' .
:-)
Floyd W. Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of farbersa
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 11:01 AM
To: John Jacobus; Careway, Harold A. (GE Energy); Radsafe (E-mail)
Subject: Re: FW: Sickening Solar Flares -Error in Comparison to Dental
x-rays
Hi:
The real problem [I hope to give NASA the benefit of a doubt] is that the
PR/Public Info issued statement by NASA about radiation dose from solar
flares and human exposure to astronauts probably was never reviewed by
radiation technical specialists in NASA. This failure to get proper
technical input on public statments about radiation exposure and risk is
an all-too-common disconnect between PR/Public Info staff and technical
specialists in any organization.
Stewart Farber
===============
On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 08:54:04 -0800 (PST), John Jacobus
<crispy_bird@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I agree, and was not excusing their statements. I was
> questioning the basis of the value.
>
> Of course, this is the same organization that confused
> English and metric units during an expedition to Mars
> a few years back.
>
> --- farbersa <farbersa@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>> John:
>>
>> Nonetheless, if NASA can "confuse" exposure to a
>> small volume of tissue
>> from a dental x-ray and equate it erroneously to
>> the potential effect of
>> whole body dose they have a problem-- both from a
>> technical and
>> credibility/public communications perspective.
>>
>> Stewart Farber
>> ===============
>> On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 06:56:53 -0800 (PST), John
>> Jacobus
>> <crispy_bird@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Of course, NASA could have confused the entrance
>> > exposure rather than the dose equivalent.
>> >
>> > --- farbersa <farbersa@optonline.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >> On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:39:28 -0800, Careway,
>> Harold
>> >> A. (GE Energy)
>> >> <Harold.Careway@gene.GE.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > How different it is when you don't work in the
>> >> nuclear industry.
>> >> >
>> >> > hal
>> >> >
>> >> > -----Original Message-----
>> >> > From: bounce-snglist-64594@lyris.msfc.nasa.gov
>> >> >
>> >>
>> [mailto:bounce-snglist-64594@lyris.msfc.nasa.gov]On
>> >> Behalf Of NASA
>> >> > Science News
>> >> > Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 12:12 PM
>> >> > To: NASA Science News
>> >> > Subject: Sickening Solar Flares
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > NASA Science News for January 27, 2005
>> >> >
>> >> > The biggest solar proton storm in 15 years
>> erupted
>> >> last week. Here on
>> >> > Earth, we were safe, protected by our planet's
>> >> thick atmosphere and
>> >> > magnetic field. But what would have happened
>> to
>> >> an astronaut in space?
>> >> > NASA researchers have the answer.
>> >> >
>> >> > FULL STORY at
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >
>>
> http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/27jan_solarflares.htm?list64594
>> >> ...............
>> >> ========
>> >> Hello all:
>> >>
>> >> How very odd that NASA would compare 1 rem whole
>> >> body from solar flares
>> >> which they erroneously equate to 10 dental x-rays
>> at
>> >> 0.1 Rem each!! One
>> >> would certainly hope NASA could do a better job
>> of
>> >> explaining radiation
>> >> exposure accurately than this.
>> >>
>> >> According to the HPS Ask the Expert Question
>> #1193
>> >> at:
>> >>
>> >> http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q1193.html
>> >>
>> >> the dose equivalent of even a panoramic x-ray
>> >> [highest dose dental x-ray]
>> >> is 26 micro-Sv [2.6 mR NOT 100 mR as NASA
>> states].
>> >> So NASA overstates the
>> >> dose from even a dental panoramic x-ray by a
>> factor
>> >> of about 40, and 1 Rem
>> >> whole body would be equal to about 400 panoramic
>> >> x-rays. A single
>> >> intra-oral x-ray is about 10 micro-Sv [1 mR] dose
>> >> equivalent. So compared
>> >> to the typical intraoral x-ray, NASA's estimate
>> of
>> >> 100 mR from a typical
>> >> dental x-ray is 100 times too high and 1 Rem
>> whole
>> >> body would be equal in
>> >> dose equivalent to 1000 intraoral x-rays.
>> >>
>> >> Best,
>> >>
>> >> Stewart Farber
>> >> [203] 367-0791 [home office]
>> --
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