Re: Radiation hormesis

["Fritz A. Seiler" <faseiler@nmia.com>]

Dear Glenn,

Not so fast, young man!  As Joe Alvarez and I have been
pointing out since the early nineties in a number of papers,
there is a simple fact about nonlinear dose-effect relation-
ships: You do not get by with an event dose as in the linear
case, you need the total dose accumulated by the individual.
This makes your concerns invalid as you need  to take into
account ALL exposures of an individual to calculate the risk
by a nonlinear dose-effect relationship.  So you know when
you get out of the hormetic region, past the zero-effects point,
into the region of positive risks again.

Best regards

Fritz Seiler

GACarlson@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 5/4/99 6:04:57 PM EST, 7pe@ornl.gov writes:
>
> << Why should the public take on any additional risk, no matter how trivial in
>  some people's opinion, to assist the nuclear/defense industry in getting
>  rid of their contaminated scrap?  The only measurable cost benefit is to
>  industry, none to the public (unless there IS a hormetic effect). >>
>
> Even IF there is a demonstrable hormetic effect, how does one assure that the
> "beneficial" dose from contaminated scrap metal plus nuclear power plants
> plus fossil-fuel power plants plus radwaste disposal facilities plus
> household radon plus doctors' offices plus dentists' offices plus high-flying
> airliners plus...plus...plus...is still "beneficial"?
>
> An exposure which ALONE might have a beneficial effect, might have a
> detrimental effect when combined with all other exposures.  Unless the
> proponents of radiation hormesis can assure that their proposed contribution
> to the recipient's total exposure still has a cumulative hormetic effect,
> hormesis should remain an interesting, but practically useless phenomena.
>
> Glenn
> GACarlson@aol.com

*************************

Fritz A. Seiler, Ph.D.
Principal
Sigma Five Associates
P.O. Box 14006
Albuquerque, NM 87191-4006
Tel.    505-323-7848
Fax.    505-293-3911
e-mail: faseiler@nmia.com

**************************


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