Leveraging Advances in Modern Science to Revitalize Low-Dose Radiation Research in the United States (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 10-21
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From page 10... ...
A separate office within DOE, the Office of Health and Safety, supports research programs mandated by Congress or required by international agreement, including the Japan program that supports studies of the Japanese atomic bombing survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki carried out at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. The Office of Health and Safety does not have available funds to support competitive external grants and contracts.
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From page 11... ...
government has failed to accept responsibility for past radiation exposures and has failed to develop programs that adequately compensate all impacted communities. Recommendation B: Agencies responsible for the management of the multidisciplinary low-dose radiation program should incorporate the following elements: 1.
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In addition, the research agenda proposed by the committee extends beyond any single agency's capabilities, and a partnership with an agency whose mission is to enhance health would be warranted. Among various federal agencies with missions to enhance or protect health, NIH is widely trusted by the scientific community and members of the public and does not have any regulatory responsibilities related to setting or implementing radiation protection standards; therefore, it has no perceived conflict of interest with leading low-dose radiation research through a cross-institutional effort.
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From page 13... ...
, and NIH, through a cross-institutional effort, leading the epidemiological and biological research, but with mechanisms in place to allow for integration of the different research lines. The committee was not tasked with assessing the suitability of DOE to manage the low-dose radiation program or with recommending an alternative management structure.
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From page 15... ...
Low doses of radiation delivered over long periods of time do not cause prompt tissue or organ damage but may cause cellular damage that increases an individual's long-term risk of cancer and hereditary disorders in a stochastic fashion. Current radiation protection standards for low-dose and low-dose-rate exposure focus on protection against such stochastic effects.
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From page 16... ...
Some communication challenges recognized by radiation protection regulators include justifying regulating radiation to low levels in the presence of inconclusive scientific evidence of risk, addressing questions regarding a "safe" level of radiation exposure and about individual risks, and using appropriate risk comparisons.4 Communicating about additional low-dose radiation exposures in relation to background natural radiation exposure levels also presents challenges. Today, concerns about risks at low doses and low dose rates influence patient acceptance of medical diagnostic procedures, as well as U.S.
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Examples of such studies include the atomic bombing survivors and many studies of medically, occupationally, and environmentally exposed populations. If studies predict risks at low doses of radia tion based on a dose-response function estimated using only data at high doses, continued
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. To assist with developing a low-dose radiation research strategy in the United States, this report sets priorities to guide research for a multidisciplinary coordinated low-dose radiation program that involves the broader U.S.
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1.1 LOW-DOSE RADIATION EXPOSURES TO THE U.S. POPULATION Agencies with radiation protection responsibilities including the Environmental Protection Agency and advisory bodies such as the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements communicate radiation exposures to the U.S.
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From page 20... ...
. Although some low-dose radiation exposures, natural or human-made, can be avoided or controlled (e.g., by limiting occupational exposures and those to members of the public from nuclear power plant routine operations and accidental releases or by remediating high radon levels in homes)
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From page 21... ...
. More recently, other cohort studies involving populations with medical, occupational, and environmental radiation exposures have allowed for direct estimates of the effect of radiation exposure on cancer risks following protracted exposures that are more relevant to the types of exposures received today by the U.S.
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