RE: Question on low-dose rad effects

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

On Fri, 22 Oct 1999, Carroll,Raymond wrote:

> As I sit and muse regarding the question it also dawns on me that the dose
> come from the dose rate which is normally assumed to be uniform over the
> whole bode (or most of it).  The dose rate over a certain surface area such
> as 1 cm^2 would be the same for the mouse and the elephant.  The elephant
> would intercept many more photons (or whatever radiation is emitted) but the
> dose to the 1 cm^2 would be the same, at the surface, for the mouse or the
> elephant.  Organ dose would be different due to distance and shielding
> within the beasties.

	This may show that the risk of initiating a cancer is the same per
square centimeter. If a larger animal has far more square centimeters, it
should then have a far larger cancer risk. But it doesn't -- that is the
point being made here

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


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