Re: dose from airborne emissions

[Andrew Karam <karam.1@osu.edu>]

Dear Al,

This may well be a subject on which we must agree to disagree, and I hope
that our public discussion is of interest to RADSAFE.  

Carol Marcus forwarded a paper to me that appeared in the New England
Journal of Medicine in 1994 (vol 331, #3, p 193).  The author, Ralph
Keeney, noted that "every $5-$12 million (in 1990 dollars) that is borne
collectively by may people may induce one death because those people are
slightly poorer and therefore cannot make many life-sustaining choices such
as obtaining better health care services, buying better tires, eating more
healthful foods...and in general leading less streessful lives."  Please
note that the money referred to is collective in nature; it may come in the
form of higher utility rates, higher taxes, higher insurance payments, and
so forth.

I would rather take the time to educate the public to the point where they
don't worry about a dose of 10 mrem than to take the time to prove to them
repeatedly that an entity is emitting less than 0.1 mrem annually.  My
concern is that, once people are told by their governments that anything
above 0.1 mrem may be regulated, they will extend this to believing that
this is the largest safe dose one can receive.  From this comes the demand
for increasing regulation and yet more resources put into an area for which
there is no visible return.  This is the reason I feel such a limit does
more harm than good.

Please do not take this as a personal slight because it is not intended as
such.  In my opinion, setting such a low limit because it makes people feel
good is providing them with a regulatory placebo.  I do not doubt that it
makes people feel better, but I question of administering it in the first
place.

Sincerely,

Andy
The opinions expressed are well-reasoned 			The mind is not a vessel to
and insightful.  Needless to say, they are		be filled but a fire to be 
not those of my employer. 					lighted (Plutarch)
(with apologies to Michael Feldman)		

Andrew Karam, CHP  (karam.1@osu.edu)
The Ohio State University Office of Radiation Safety
1314 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH  43212
(614) 292-1284 (phone)
(614) 292-7002 (fax)