Biological Effects of Low Dose and Low Dose Rate Radiation

[dj_strom@ccmail.pnl.gov (Daniel J Strom)]

        BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LOW DOSE AND LOW DOSE RATE RADIATION
 open to the public without charge at the Rennaissance Hotel and the
Washington Convention Center, Washington DC Monday April 21, 1997 8:00 
-10:30 a.m.
This session is sponsored by Physics and Society Forum of the American 
Physical Society. The session is part of the joint meeting of the APS/AAPT 
April 18-21.

The session will be moderated by John Cameron

SPEAKERS: (25 minutes + 5 minutes discussion)

Art Upton: Biological Effects of Low-Level Ionizing Radiation: A Critical 
Reappraisal

Ludwig Feinendegen: The sum of different microdose-effects in irradiated 
tissue contradicts the linear-no-threshold hypothesis.

Myron Pollycove: The Rise and Fall of the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) Theory 
of Radiation Carcinogenesis

Dan Strom: The Use and Abuse of Models in Radiation Risk Management  
PNNL-SA-28600



----------------------------- My Abstract (same as for PEP this summer):

Uses and Abuses of Models in Radiation Risk Management  

Daniel J. Strom, Health Protection Department, Pacific Northwest 
National Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352; dj_strom@pnl.gov

Abstract -- "All models are wrong, and some are useful" (George E.P. 
Box, 1979).  A variety of scientific models are used to relate 
biological insult (such as exposure to microbes, chemicals, and energy 
fields) to various health endpoints.  Such models (as distinct from 
theories and hypotheses) play an important role in the risk assessments 
that are used in risk management.  This course provides an overview of 
the kinds of health effects that can be quantified and modeled, and then 
describes models commonly used in relating effects of ionizing radiation 
to various measurable or "model-able" quantities.  Because there are no 
human data to use as input to models in many important cases, the bases 
for extrapolation are discussed.  The "weight of evidence" for various 
molecular, cellular, tissue, and organism studies must be determined.  
In this context recent publications on the Japanese survivors of nuclear 
bombings, eleven cohorts of underground miners, and meta-analyses of 
indoor-radon case-control studies are presented, along with a review of 
BEIR VI.  Stephen L. Brown defines three distinct uses of risk 
assessment models as prevention (or protection), prediction, and 
priority-setting.  The best choice of model depends on its intended use 
and also on non-scientific considerations in risk management.  
Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the linear, no-threshold model are 
illustrated.