Effects of small doses of ionizing radiation. Fundamental biophysical characteristics. [Neutrons, x and gamma radiation]

Conference · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977 · Radiat. Res.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7312120

Rossi, H H

From an application of the concepts of microdosimetry to a wide range of radiobiological data on higher organisms, it has become apparent that the first step in the biological action of ionizing radiation is the induction of subcellular lesions. Two basic characteristics of this process are that it depends only on the first and (sometimes) the second power of the absorbed dose and that the yield of such lesions, as well as the magnitude of the domain where energy concentration determines the yield of lesions, is relatively constant even for cells and effects that differ greatly in radiosensitivity. These observations have led to the formulation of the theory of dual radiation action, which postulates that the yield of these lesions depends on the square of the specific energy in domains having an effective diameter which differs from 1 ..mu..m by much less than an order of magnitude. It has furthermore been deduced that lesions are produced by the interaction of pairs of sublesions which are presumed to be alterations in DNA structure at the nanometer level. There remain many questions regarding the quantitative relation of lesion production to cellular injury and the dependence of multicellular responses on cellular impairment. While these uncertainties make it frequently impossible to derive explicit dose-effect relations, the existing framework permits a variety of general conclusions and it may be utilized to obtain specific answers in some cases. An important example is risk estimates for the induction of human leukemia by neutrons. It is concluded that maximum permissible neutron doses must be reduced.

• Research Organization: Columbia Univ., New York
• OSTI ID: 7312120
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Radiat. Res.; (United States) Journal Volume: 71:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560111* -- Radiation Effects on Biochemicals-- In Vitro-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BARYONS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
DNA
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
DOSIMETRY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
GAMMA RADIATION
HADRONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
IRRADIATION
LOW DOSE IRRADIATION
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE
MICRODOSIMETRY
NEUTRONS
NUCLEIC ACIDS
NUCLEONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RBE
SAFETY STANDARDS
STANDARDS
X RADIATION