Re: Research Subject Doses

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

	I would say that the only sure thing is that the risk is very
small (e.g. not larger than the linear estimate), and it is just as likely
to be beneficial as harmful.

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu


On Mon, 29 Dec 1997, Chuck Pickering wrote:

> Happy Holidays,
> 
> All you Linear and Non-linear combatants please sharpen your pencils. 
> I am reviewing a human subject research study that proposes to expose 
> the subjects to a dose (TEDE) of 0.5 Rem. Extrapolating LINEARLY from 
> BEIR 5 data suggests that the risk from participating in this study is 
> about 4 deaths per 10,000 (10 Rem = 800 per 100,000). 
> 
> I am deliberately not giving you all the information on radionuclide, 
> dose schedule, administered dose, etc. I am interested in your 
> thoughts on extrapolating in this fashion and if you have suggestions 
> on what the risk might be if one extrapolated using a non-linear 
> method.
> 
> Chuck Pickering, RSO
> University of Southern California
> (213) 342-2200
> (213) 342-2201 Fax
> cpickering@engr-serv.usc.edu
>