Re: an ethical issue?

["schoenho" <schoenho@via.at>]

Schoenhofer
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Wade, 

You wrote:

 Von: H.Wade Patterson <hwade@triax.com>
> An: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
> Betreff: an ethical issue?
> Datum: Montag, 28. Juli 1997 15:52
> 
> Group:
> Sohei Kondo, in his book, Health Effects Of Low-Level Radiation, Chapter
> 2, page 22; Medical Physics Publishing, Madison WI. 1993, states that
> "According to the IAEA 100,000-200,000 excess abortions were performed
> throughout western Europe after the Chernobyl accident." 
> He cites Ketchum, LE, Lessons of Chernobyl: SNM members try to
> decontaminate world threatened by fallout. Part 1 [Newsline]. J. Nucl.
> Med., 28, 413-422, 1987 as the source of this data.

The scientific approach to this question would be to verify these data
before commenting. Sohei Kondo cites Ketchum, Ketchum cites the IAEA,
without obviously giving the source - where has the statement of the IAEA
been published? Is it an official statement? Questions over questions. I
personally can neither believe that the IAEA has published something like
this - I might be wrong - nor do I believe the message. Where would the
IAEA have received the data from? From the national governments or health
authorities etc.?????  How many percent of normal abortions would this
excess be? I myself have asked in a radiointerview women, not to consider
any abortion because of the Chernobyl accident, because first of all their
was practically no risk due to the radiation and secondly that the health
risk of an abortion would be by far greater.


> In the August issue of Health Physics, 73(2), 378-382, there is a note
> by Kristin Shrader-Frechette and Lars Persson titled "Ethical Issues in
> Radiation Protection."
> 
> Curiously they make no mention of these abortions.

Maybe they had a reason not to mention it, it might have even been lack of
knowledge about the probably not existing abortions. Sorry, I have not yet
received the August issue. 


> 
> I wonder if they do not see an abortion, induced by fear of radiation
> exposure, as an ethical issue.
> 
> It seems to me that it is.
> 
> Such fear of course arises from the official ICRP/NCRP position that
> there is no threshold for radiation induced cancer and teratogenesis.

I do not get tired to repeat, that ICRP, IAEA and all international bodies
give recommendations which need not be followed on a national level. 
> 
> I wonder what opinions others may have on this matter?

My opinion is that one cannot blame the LNT hypothesis - whether it is
justified or not, whether the threshold is existing or not - for all evil
on this world! Such speculations starting from a non verified message in a
book are in my opinion not suitable for a brilliant scientist, as you are.

Franz