[ RadSafe ] Panel Affirms Radiation Link to Cancer

[Whitman, Richard T]

MSNBC reported "the committee examined doses of radiation of up to 100
millsieverts..." implying radiation workers, not the public or public
exposure limits....so once again we extrapolate into zaniness.

Rick Whitman

____________________Reply Separator____________________
Subject:    RE: [ RadSafe ] Panel Affirms Radiation Link to Cancer
Author:     radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl
Date:       6/29/2005 2:13 PM




       Where is this report published and what studies did they review
       to come
       up with this conclusion?

       -----Original Message-----
       From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl
       [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
       Behalf Of Sandy Perle
       Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 9:43 AM
       To: radsafe; powernet at hps1.org
       Subject: [ RadSafe ] Panel Affirms Radiation Link to Cancer


       Comments?

       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.

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

       Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
       Fax:(949) 296-1902

       E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
       E-Mail: sandyfl at earthlink.net

       Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
       Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/


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