Cancer risks from LOW-LET exposure
This is a summary of the reading I have done on section
3.5.3 in Radiological Assessment: Sources and Doses. It is interesting how far we have come in the world of radiation exposure and how we now use it for good things such as cancer treatment.
There is lots of evidence that large of ionizing radiation
is a possible cause of cancer. This happens by the radiation damaging a strand
of DNA, the damage small enough to let the DNA reproduce. Data for cancer risk
has been obtained through the study of many groups of people.
The people that were near Nagasaki and Hiroshima were
exposed to gamma and neutron radiation. These people and their off spring have
been studied throughout the years. Radiologists from the first half of the
century received abnormally high doses due to the limited knowledge of
radiation shielding and the negative effects of large doses. “Radium Dial
Painters” ingested large amounts of radium because they would periodically dab
the paintbrush on their tongue to wet it. The radium was used for luminescence
on gauges and watches. Radiation therapy patients have also been monitored for
effects.
As of now, there is no direct evidence that chronic exposure
to low radiation will lead to an abnormally high risk of cancer. There are models that will relate exposure to
an increase in cancer risk. The two models noted are the Absolute Risk Model
and the Relative Risk Model. These use tables of mortality rates of cancers
based on gender and age, as well as dose received to calculate the increased
risk of cancer. There are also concepts such as the Genetically Significant
Dose, which is described as a “measure of the genetic detriment to a population”.
The somatically significant dose a “measure of biological hazard in relation to
somatic illness, specifically fatal malignancy”. I am going to look into these
a bit more because I find them to be a little unclear in the explanation.
For more information
on these methods, look into the BEIR-V and the UNSCEAR committees. Or you can
just read this section of the book. Hope you found this
interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Nuclear Cow
This was a pretty informative post. I think that it would be pretty cool in the future to pick one of these topics and elaborate a little more on it. Like what trends did they or did they not find in the radium dial painters? That's something I hadn't really heard of before and would be interested in the findings.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that all the radium girls passed by the end of the 30's. Here is an article that digs into it a bit further. I would summarize it, but there is a giant disclaimer that says you must have permission to use any information from the article lol.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/