ABSTRACT
Scientific knowledge regarding somatic radiation risks has greatly increased in recent years as a result of a series of epidemiological studies. IRCP publication no. 26 concerns largely to a collection of data published in a report of the United Nations in 1977. For weakly ionising radiation, both publications introduce a risk factor representing the risk per rem for small doses. As a result, they introduced a reduction factor for the risks from ionising radiation at small doses. An analysis of the data of the most common radiation induced cancers has shown that their estimates are not on the side of safety. It is concluded that the doses regarded as acceptable by the IRCP are too high for persons exposed to radiation in the course of their profession.
Subject(s)
Radiation Injuries/epidemiology , Age Factors , Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation , Environmental Exposure , Female , Humans , Japan , Leukemia, Radiation-Induced/etiology , Male , Neoplasms/etiology , Nuclear Warfare , Occupational Diseases/etiology , Radiation Injuries/etiology , RiskABSTRACT
Cancer of the thyroid has been detected as a late consequence of irradiation mainly for benign diseases. A survey of data from several investigators shows a strong correlation between incidence and thyroid dose. The result of a risk estimation for irradiated children assuming a linear non-threshold dose response is 60 cancers per 10(6) per rem in 20 years following irradiation. There is no evidence that adults will be much less sensitive. Radiation risks for the thyroid should be considered in nuclear medicine, because the diagnostic use of radioiodine leads to organ doses which are comparably high.
