Re: Linear Hypothesis IS the Cause of Public Fear of Radiation

[Ronald Morgan <rgmorgan@lanl.gov>]

At 09:58 AM 10/10/96 -0500, you wrote:
>> >The LNTH IS the cause of the public fear, or, rather, the corruption 
>> >of the LNTH idea is the cause.  The LNTH says: "there MAY BE some 
>> harmful effect of low doses."..... 
>
>It can't be that simple.  In my experience, most people who are afraid of low-
>level ionizing radiation are equally afraid of low-level non-ionizing 
>radiations and fields (particularly RF/MW and power-frequency).  For RF no one 
>has ever seriously suggested that the LNTH applies; in fact, the scientific 
>consensus is that there is are experimentally verifiable thresholds for RF 
>hazards. Thus the LNTH cannot possibly the the source of public fear of RF, 
>and hence of radiation in general.
>
>Any explanation of "fear of radiation" must look beyond ionizing radiation.

I disagree.  The fear of radiation exists because of historical hot-button
images/reporting (some accurate, most not).  The dangers of non-ionizing
radiations have been widely publicized only recently (relatively), and most
laypeople don't make the distinction between ionizing and non-ionizing. They
hear the word 'radiation' and the phobia-filters snap into place.







>
>
>John Moulder (jmoulder@its.mcw.edu)
>Radiation Biology Group
>Medical College of Wisconsin
>
>
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          Ron Morgan <rgmorgan@lanl.gov>
          Operational Health Physics (ESH-1)
          Los Alamos National Laboratory
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