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Title: The effects on human populations of exposure to alpha-emitting radionuclides: The 1988 BEIR IV report

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6705020

The BEIR-IV Report addresses health effects in human populations exposed to internally deposited alpha-emitting radionuclides and their decay products. Emphasis has been placed on the carcinogenic effects in humans and where possible, quantitative risk estimates for cancer induction are presented. The largest part of the Report concentrates on the health outcomes due to exposure to radon and its progeny. The Report also addresses health effects due to exposure to other groups of radionuclides and their progeny that emit alpha particles, viz., the isotopes of polonium, radium, thorium, uranium, and the transuranic elements. Lung cancer risk is derived from the epidemiologic surveys of underground miners who breathe high levels of radon-222 progeny. The risk of bone sarcomas is derived from the United States radium dial painters who ingested radium-226 and radium-228 and from German patients who received radium-224 for therapeutic purposes. The risk of head sinus carcinomas is obtained from the United States radium dial painters; the radon-222 gas and its progeny accumulated in the sinuses and mastoid air cells in workers with increased body burdens of radium-226. The human data on liver cancer risk come mainly from Thorotrast patients who received colloidal thorium-232 dioxide and its progeny during medical procedures. 6 ref., 2 tabs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
6705020
Report Number(s):
LBL-25945; CONF-8809137-4; ON: DE89002922
Resource Relation:
Conference: 14. L. H. Gray conference, Oxford, UK, 11 Sep 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English