[ RadSafe ] Panel Affirms Radiation Link to Cancer

[Sandy Perle]

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Panel Affirms Radiation Link to Cancer 
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON - The preponderance of scientific evidence shows that even 
very low doses of radiation pose a risk of cancer or other health 
problems and there is no threshold below which exposure can be viewed 
as harmless, a panel of prominent scientists concluded Wednesday. 
 
The finding by the  National Academy of Sciences panel is viewed as 
critical because it is likely to significantly influence what 
radiation levels government agencies will allow at abandoned nuclear 
power plants, nuclear weapons production facilities and elsewhere.

The nuclear industry,, as well as some independent scientists, have 
argued that there is a threshold of very low level radiation where 
exposure is not harmful, or possibly even beneficial. They said 
current risk modeling may exaggerate the health impact.

The panel, after five years of study, rejected that claim.

"The scientific research base shows that there is no threshold of 
exposure below which low levels of ionized radiation can be 
demonstrated to be harmless or beneficial," said Richard R. Monson, 
the panel chairman and a professor of epidemiology at Harvard's 
School of Public Health.

The committee gave support to the so-called "linear, no threshold" 
model that is currently the generally acceptable approach to 
radiation risk assessment. This approach assumes that the health 
risks from radiation exposure declines as the dose levels decline, 
but that each unit of radiation — no matter how small — still is 
assumed to cause cancer.

The panel, formally known as the Committee on Biological Effects of 
Ionizing Radiaton, or BEIR, generally supported previous cancer risk 
estimates — the last one by an earlier BEIR group in 1990.

Contrary to assertions that risks from exposure from low-level 
radiation may have been overstated, the panel said "the availability 
of new and more extensive data have strengthened confidence in these 
(earlier) estimates."

The committee examined doses of radiation of up to 100 millisievert, 
a measurement of accumulated radiation to an individual over a year. 
By comparison, a single chest X-ray accounts for 0.1 millisievert and 
average background radiation 3 millisievert.

The committee estmated that 1 out of 100 people would likely develop 
solid cancer or leukemia from an exposure of 100 millisievert of 
radiation over a lifetime.

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Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

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Fax:(949) 296-1902 

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
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