At 07:36 PM 31/07/2008, you wrote:
The stochastic risk is the luck (or bad luck) factor of radiation.
i.e. even a very low dose of radiation can cause a DNA mutation and
subsequent cancer, if it hits the right spot! This is completely
random but like a bet at the races, the higher the dose, the better
the chance of developing cancer. For example, for every 2,000,000
chest x-rays (0.02mSv) one will give the patient cancer that is life
threatening.
While I know your work involves this, Jim what you are referring to
is the Linear No Threshold (LNT) hypothesis and is based on the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki exposures. However you'll never find that
person out of the 2 million or even prove that he or she ever existed
due to the large and variable natural background of cancer rates. So
LNT will always remain a hypothesis. (This reminds me of another
current scientific issue)However there is a body of evidence like the
Taiwanese case which shows that small doses of radiation may not only
be harmless but may confer some health benefits. This is not just a
correlation but there are body mechanisms that repair damage to cells
and DNA so there is a plausible mechanism invovling stimulation of
these repair mechanisms by small radiation doses.
It also means that the damage is not necessarily cumulative.
This is different from ingesting radioactive material which results
in very high doses to body tissues around the particles.
I have seen an article (Jaworwowski - former chairman of the
radiological Protection Board in Poland) that said that international
radiological protection standards which were set in the 50's were set
to very low doses at the insistence of the Soviets to hobble western
use of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The Soviets weren't going
to be bound by them of course.
Mike
Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments
phone Int'l + 61 746 355784
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Int'l + 61 429 355784
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