Reflections on Basic Science Studies Involving Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation.

ABSTRACT: Investigation of health effects of low doses of radiation as a field of study has been riddled with difficulties since its inception. In this document we will use 100 mGy as the cutoff upper limit for low-dose radiation, borrowing this definition from the U.S. Department of Energy, although other agencies and researchers sometimes include up to five-fold higher doses under the same title. Difficulties in this area of research are most often ascribed to the fact that effects of low doses of radiation are subtle and difficult to distinguish from the plethora of other low-grade stresses. Thus, for example, most epidemiological studies include hundreds of thousands of samples and generate risk estimates that are statistically meaningful only when they are considered on a scale of hundreds or t

SUBMITTER: Paunesku T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6226262 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature