Radiobiological basis for setting neutron radiation safety standards

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Health Phys.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-198511000-00020· OSTI ID:5738087

Straume, T

Present neutron standards, adopted more than 20 yr ago from a weak radiobiological data base, have been in doubt for a number of years and are currently under challenge. Moreover, recent dosimetric re-evaluations indicate that Hiroshima neutron doses may have been much lower than previously thought, suggesting that direct data for neutron-induced cancer in humans may in fact not be available. These recent developments make it urgent to determine the extent to which neutron cancer risk in man can be estimated from data that are available. Two approaches are proposed here that are anchored in particularly robust epidemiological and experimental data and appear most likely to provide reliable estimates of neutron cancer risk in man. The first approach uses gamma-ray dose-response relationships for human carcinogenesis, available from Nagasaki (Hiroshima data are also considered), together with highly characterized neutron and gamma-ray data for human cytogenetics. When tested against relevant experimental data, this approach either adequately predicts or somewhat overestimates neutron tumorigenesis (and mutagenesis) in animals. The second approach also uses the Nagasaki gamma-ray cancer data, but together with neutron RBEs from animal tumorigenesis studies. Both approaches give similar results and provide a basis for setting neutron radiation safety standards. They appear to be an improvement over previous approaches, including those that rely on highly uncertain maximum neutron RBEs and unnecessary extrapolations of gamma-ray data to very low doses. Results suggest that, at the presently accepted neutron dose limit of 0.5 rad/yr, the cancer mortality risk to radiation workers is not very different from accidental mortality risks to workers in various nonradiation occupations.

• OSTI ID: 5738087
• Journal Information: Health Phys.; (United States), Journal Name: Health Phys.; (United States) Vol. 5; ISSN HLTPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
A-BOMB SURVIVORS
ANIMALS
BARYONS
BIOLOGY
CARCINOGENESIS
DISEASES
DOSIMETRY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
MAMMALS
MICE
NEOPLASMS
NEUTRON DOSIMETRY
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
PATHOGENESIS
POPULATIONS
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIOBIOLOGY
RATS
RODENTS
SAFETY STANDARDS
STANDARDS
VERTEBRATES