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NO
SAFE DOSE OF RADIATION - REFERENCES
Government, university and independently sponsored studies have all shown that there is no safe level of radiation exposure - the lowest dose damages our health.
The National Academy of Sciences 2005 report
thorough review of available biological and biophysical data supports a
"linear, no-threshold" (LNT) risk model, which says that the smallest dose
of low-level ionizing radiation has the potential to cause an increase in
health risks to humans. In the past, some researchers have argued that the
LNT model exaggerates adverse health effects, while others have said that it
underestimates the harm. The preponderance of evidence supports the LNT
model, this new report says. To access report see listing below.
Dr. John
Gofman - eminent nuclear chemist and cardiologist
wrote the following letter, May 11, 1999
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720
LETTER OF CONCERN
To Whom It May Concern,
During 1942, I led "The Plutonium Group"
at the University of California, Berkeley, which managed to
isolate the first milligram of plutonium from irradiated uranium.
[Plutonium-239 had previously been discovered by Glenn Seaborg and Edwin
McMillan]. During subsequent decades, I have studied the biological
effects of ionizing radiation---- including the alpha particles emitted
by the decay of plutonium.
By any reasonable standard of biomedical
proof, there is no safe dose, which means that just one decaying
radioactive atom can produce permanent mutation in a cell's genetic
molecules [Gofman 1990: "Radiation Induced Cancer from Low-Dose
Exposure"]. For alpha particles, the logic of no safe dose was confirmed
experimentally in 1997 by Tom K. Hei and co-workers at Columbia
University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York [Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences [USA] Vol. 94, pp. 3765-3770, April
1997, "Mutagenic Effects of A Single and an Exact Number of Alpha
Particles in Mammilian Cells."]
It follows from such evidence that
citizens worldwide have a strong biological basis for opposing
activities which produce an appreciable risk of exposing humans and
others to plutonium and other radioactive pollution at any level. The
fact that humans cannot escape exposure to ionizing radiation from
various natural sources ---which may well account for a large share of
humanity's inherited afflictions- is no reason to let human activities
INCREASE exposure to ionizing radiation. The fact that ionizing
radiation is a mutagen was first demonstrated in 1927 by Herman Joseph
Muller, and subsequent evidence has shown it to be a mutagen of unique
potency. Mutation is the basis not only for inherited afflictions, but
also for cancer.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph D
Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology
References
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1990: John W. Gofman, Radiation-Induced Cancer from Low-Dose Exposure. ISBN
0-932682-89-8. The entire monograph is online at www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/RIC/
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1995: Natl Radiological Protection Bd (Britain), Risk of Radiation-Induced Cancer at
Low Doses... ISBN 0-85951-386-6.
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1997: Tom K. Hei et al, "Mutagenic Effects of a Single and Exact Number of Alpha
Particles...", Proceeding of the Natl Acad Sci Vol.94, No.8: 3765-3770. The full text is
online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/94/8/3765
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1999: John W. Gofman, Radiation from Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer
and Ischemic Heart Disease... ISBN 0-932682-97-9. The first 100 pages plus the Table of
Contents and References are online at www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/RMP/
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2000: Michele M. Doody et al, "Breast Cancer Mortality after Diagnostic Radiography,"
Spine Vol.25, No.2: 2052-2063.
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2000: Betsy M. Sutherland et al, "Clustered DNA Damages Induced... in Human Cells by
Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation," Proceedings of the Natl Acad Sci Vol.97, No.1: 103-108. The
full text is online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/1/103
See also Sutherland 2000, "Clustered Damages and Total Lesions Induced in DNA by Ionizing
Radiation..." Biochemistry Vol.39: 8026-8031.
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2001: David J. Brenner et al, "Estimated Risks of Radiation-Induced Fatal Cancer from
Pediatric CT," Amer. Journal of Roentgenology Vol.176, No.2: 289-296. Full text is online at
www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/176/2/289
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2005: National Academy of Sciences
report,
Health Risks from Exposure to
Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII - Phase 2).
Available on line at
http://national-academies.org |
Websites
on Radiation and Health
STAR Foundation www.noradiation.org
STAR sponsors symposiums on radiation and health. Transcripts are on the web, click on
symposium low level radiation and health.
Committee for Nuclear Responsibility www.ratical.com
Dr. John Gofman is one of the more prominent doctors in the field
Website contains extensive research and articles
More
about radiation health effects
PilgrimWatch.org
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