Re: Rocketdyne Worker study -Reply

[Charles Willis <CAW@nrc.gov>]

Radsafers,

There have been several comments about Alice Stewart and the Oxford Survey (of
prenatal exposure).  This issue has been addressed in the UNSCEAR reports,
including the 1994 report.  It seems that there is no scientific resolution of the
question of the adverse effects of prenatal irradiation with diagnostic x rays.  Some
other case-control studies have lent support to the conclusions of the Oxford study.
Of course, case-control studies are too subject to bias to constitute solid evidence. 
On the other hand, the cohort studies (including those of the A bomb survivors)
have found no adverse health effects have been found. (Yes,  there are suggestions
of hormesis.)  Cohort studies are criticized for having too few cases to have the
desired statistical power.  For example, in the 1,630 prenatally exposed A bomb
survivors, there were almost no childhood cancers and the adult cancers show no
significant increase from normal.  In summary, it seems that Stewart and the Oxford
Survey have been challenged but not completely repudiated.

The Mancuso-Stewart-Kneale report, on the other hand, was repudiated by the
National Academy of Sciences and others.  It was this work, more than any other,
that established Ms. Stewart's reputation as a quasi-scientific activist.

Charlie Willis
caw@nrc.gov