Re: AAPM Report No.58

[David W Lee <lee_david_w@lanl.gov>]

Ron:

        And here I thought that the risk factor was approximately 2%/Sv which would yield an estimate of 200 folks!  I fully agree with your reservation; whether the estimated risk factor is 2%/Sv or 4%/Sv, it still is a RISK factor by which fatal cancer induction is ESTIMATED.  This risk factor does not guarantee that 200 or 400 folks actually will get fatal radiation-induced cancer.  Therefore this AAPM question is misleading in the sense that it strongly implies that a 1 rem whole-body GUARANTEES a certain number of fatal radiation-induced cancers.  Best regards  David


At 10:17 PM 12/7/1998 -0600, you wrote:
>I was just skimming through my copy of AAPM Report No. 58: Managing The Use of Fluoroscopy in Medical Institutions(October, 1998).  Here's a question from their Sample Examination:
>
>4.  How many extra fatal cancers will be produced if a population of one million persons were irradiated to a whole body effective dose equivalent of 10 mSv (1 rem)?
>   A. 100
>   B. 200
>   C. 400
>   D. No one knows.
>
>Their Answer: C
>
>I don't know if the answer is a typo, of if they intended to word the question a bit differently.   I know what they intended (using the NCRP estimate), but If I was asked how many cancers any population dose WILL produce, I would have to say that no one really knows.
>
>Ron Frick
>rfrick@gammacorp.com
>
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DAVID W. LEE
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Radiation Protection Services, ESH-12
PO Box 1663, MS K483
Los Alamos, NM  87545
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lee_david_w@lanl.gov