On Sun, Jul 06, 2014 at 11:49:08AM +1200, LizR wrote: > My 2c....I seem to recall hearing that people exposed to higher than what > is considered normal doses of radiation actually have improved tolerance > and get less cancers etc, though I can't recall where I saw/read/heard it. > > But that obviously doesn't include if any of the stuff gets into your body. >
I find it implausible that this so-called "LNT" is used for public policy. If that were true, then why do we have acceptable radiation exposure levels for occupations like astronauts, pilots, X-ray operators, etc., etc. Surely, if LNT were true, then no levels of radiation exposure would be acceptable, and we should be doing everything possible to shield out natural sources of ionising radiation. LNT seems to me to be likely an invention of certain anti-nuclear protest groups, rather than accepted science. IIUC, the biological response to small amounts of radiation exposure is to ramp up the DNA repair mechanism, which accounts for the weak, but rather counterintuitive response, that small amounts of radiation can actually improve health. The problem with the radiation health fad in the early 20th century was that the radiation exposures were usually overdone, because it was done by quacks, not scientists who actually understand what is going on. IIUC, the occupational acceptable limits are based on studies of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (who actually received a range of different exposures, depending on how screened they were at the time of the blast), and also on populations exposed to elevated levels of natural radiation, such as those areas affected by Radon. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au Latest project: The Amoeba's Secret (http://www.hpcoders.com.au/AmoebasSecret.html) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
