Exposure

Excerpt

This series of exposure abstracts focuses on the controversy over the linear no-threshold (LNT) model. The lead author in the first three articles is a nuclear medicine physics consultant specializing in radiation dosimetry. He and his colleagues reanalyzed and refuted some of the fruit fly and in vitro data that have been used to support the LNT model. The fourth article is coauthored by two health physicists, one employed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the other a consultant. In these four articles the authors stress that more harm could come from fear of radiation than the long-term risk of cancer, as noted by the similar number of deaths from people living in evacuation shelters and temporary housing compared with the deaths from the tsunami-generated nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan (Stress-induced deaths in Fukushima top those from 2011 natural disasters, Sept. 9, 2013, https://​web.​archive.​org/​web/​20130927033901/​http://​mainichi.​jp/​english/​english/​newsselect/​news/​20130909p2a00m0n​a009000c.​html, accessed 26 Sept 2018). The last article is a review of recent epidemiological data on low-dose exposure <100 mGy by the National Council on Radiation Protection. It is not a rebuttal of the aforementioned articles but rather presents data in support of the LNT model and recommends its continued use. These abstracts are presented to enlighten the readership so each person can make an informed decision about the LNT model and patient exposure. …