Re: Radiation Exposure from Smoking

["baumbaug@nosc.mil" <baumbaug@nosc.mil>]

        William,

        For/with my radiation classes, I hand out a plethora of articles
including a report I once found and saved from December's issue of Science
'85 (boy am I dating myself, I believe that it has now evolved into
"Discover")  which listed "Everyday Radiation" in a chart.  The chart gives
millirem per year figures for various articles including "Tobacco, 1.5
packs/day."  The figure given is 8,000 millirems.  I also include a copy of
the next issue's  mail from subscribers named "Advice and Dissent".  That
following issue had a letter from a Mr. Robert Moore who worked for Philip
Morris Inc.  He is concerned that the magazine MUST have made a mistake!!!
The magazine replies that the 8,000 mrem figure is from a 1965 study, since
supported, in which the average annual dose was estimated from measurements
of the polonium content in the lungs of smokers, but does not directly cite
the source.

        I hope this helps,

        Perhaps others will have more complete data....


        Joel Baumbaugh


        A sttd disclaimer as usual....The information above is MY opinion,
and does not necessary reflect the opinion of the Federal Government, the
Navy or my supervisors...

..
At 10:46 AM 4/17/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Radsafers:
>
>     While giving our standard radiation saftey seminar I was actually asked
>a question by one of the attendees.  I had put up my slide listing some of
>the common sources of radiation exposure, which includes a line that
>indicates 2 REM/year from smoking a pack of cigaretts a day.  The attendee
>challenged that figure and asked for the reference.  Well, the slide was
>made way back when and I have lost the original article, or whatever, from
>which I had obtained that figure.
>
>     Can any of you help?  What, if any, is the calculated dose to the lungs
>from tobacco-induced ionizing radiation (not chemical damage, and not as a
>factor in radon exposure unless the radon is from the smoke alone), who says
>so and how does s/he know?
>
>     Please respond to my e-mail address below and not to RADSAFE and thank
>you for your trouble.
>**********************************************************************
>William G. Nabor
>University of California, Irvine
>EH&S Office
>Irvine, CA,  92697-2725
>WGNABOR@UCI.EDU
>**********************************************************************
>
>
Joel T. Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
Naval Research and Development (NRaD)
San Diego, CA., U.S.A.