Citation

Sumner D. Med. War 1990; 6(2): 112-119.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Physics and Bio-Engineering, West of Scotland Health Boards.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Medical Association for Prevention of War)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2215361

Abstract

The main delayed effect of ionizing radiation in the individual is the induction of cancer. However, for low doses (less than 100 mSv effective dose equivalent), there is no direct evidence of radiation-induced cancer, with the possible exception of childhood cancer following prenatal exposure to X-rays. The risk at low doses has to be estimated from the observed risk at high doses; there are considerable uncertainties in this extrapolation. Direct study of those exposed to low doses does not produce any more precise information, although it does impose boundary conditions on the risk. Currently the most important problem in environmental radiation exposure is the increased incidence of childhood leukaemia observed around some nuclear installations; the explanation for this remains unclear.

Language: en