As Gary Denton said, its
Long been known that *slight* radiation exposure does appear
beneficial - it is very unclear by what mechanism.
Many years ago, probably in the 1960s, I read that the mechanism was
supposed to be from slight challenges to the immune system. I don't
know whether that is true.
Also, it has been known for centuries -- since before the radiation
was discovered -- that European uranium miners tended to die younger
than their coevals.
This suggests that to be dangerous, the amount of extra radiation need
not be much or else that some kinds of radiation are more dangerous
than others.
This latter is likely to be the case, since some ingested or inhaled
elements preferentially settle on bones and continue to decay, but
other elements are excreted quickly.
(I do not know which category radon fits. Obviously, uranium miners
did not only inhale radon, but also dust with various radionuclides in
it. Uranium miners would breath more dust than people who simply
breath air that contains the exhaust from coal-fired electric power
plants, air which contains uranium dust from the coal.)
--
Robert J. Chassell
[EMAIL PROTECTED] GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc
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