1st Edition

Radiation Risks in Perspective

By Kenneth L. Mossman Copyright 2007
    207 Pages 23 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    207 Pages 23 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Public misperception of radiological risk consistently directs limited resources toward managing minimal or even phantom risks at great cost to government and industry with no measurable benefit to overall public health. The public’s inability to comprehend small theoretical risks arrived at through inherently uncertain formulae, coupled with an irrational push to eliminate all risk with no contextual understanding of overall benefit, results in a forfeiture of valuable advances in technology in favor of an illusion of safety.

    Radiation Risks in Perspective uses general concepts underlying radiological risk as a model to illuminate the fundamental problems in public perception, reaction, and policy when faced with possible health risks. Presenting three distinct themes, the author summarizes the causes for the failure of the current system and proposes methods for correction. Beginning with a discussion of the methods used to measure threat, the author weighs the nebulous assessment of risk with the use of a quantifiable assessment of hazardous dose, which uses actual numbers that the public can readily understand and that decision makers can confidently use to enact policy and measure success.

    Secondly, the author addresses the contextual balancing of cost versus benefit when prioritizing expenditure, specifically emphasizing that it is inappropriate to analyze and discuss individual risks without regard to the presence of other risks. Finally, the author analyzes the public’s tendency to push toward zero risk tolerance, an extremist approach that leads to unreasonable restrictions on technologies, excessive regulatory compliance costs, and the ultimate loss of goods and services.

    With detailed explanations and illustrative case studies, Radiation Risks in Perspective offers scientists, lawyers, engineers, policy makers, and public health professionals, the skills they need for a rational evaluation of risk.

    Contents

    Risky Business


    More than a Number
    Safety without Risk?
    What’s Risky?
    Is It Dangerous?
    Can I Get Exposed?
    Can It Hurt Me?
    What Are the Risks?
    Damage Control
    Perception Is Reality
    References

    Scientific Guesswork


    Making the Right Choice
    Predictive Theories in Risk Assessment
    Linear No-Threshold Theory
    Sublinear Nonthreshold
    Supralinear
    Hormesis
    Threshold
    Limitations and Uncertainties
    Speculation versus Reality
    Risk Management and Risk Communication
    Quantifying Risk at Small Doses
    References

    No Safe Dose


    LNT: The Theory of Choice
    The LNT Controversy
    Elements of the Debate
    The Question of Thresholds
    Repair of Radiation Damage and Cellular Autonomy
    Uses and Misuses of LNT
    Case 1: Estimation of Health Effects of Fallout from the
    Chernobyl Reactor Accident
    Case 2: Childhood Cancer Following Diagnostic X-ray
    Case 3: Public Health Impacts from Radiation in a Modern Pit Facility

    Uncertain Risk


    How Low Can You Go?
    Risk Assessment Considering Uncertainty
    Uncertain Choices
    Another Approach

    Zero or Bust


    Management Triggers
    Technical Triggers
    Size Matters
    Sensitive People
    Assigned Blame
    Social Triggers
    Safety
    Protection of Children and the Unborn
    Polluters Should Pay
    Catastrophe and Apathy
    Public Information and Distorting Risks
    Political Triggers
    Perceptions and Conflicts of Interest
    Management Strategies
    As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)
    Best Available Technology (BAT)
    The Precautionary Principle
    Risk-Risk Trade-offs and Unintended Consequences
    Risk Offset
    Risk Substitution
    Risk Transfer and Risk Transformation
    Challenges

    Misplaced Priorities


    Priorities and Realities
    Factors in Prioritization
    Scientific Evidence
    Public Perception of Risks
    Management Capacity
    Court Actions
    Influence of Stakeholder Groups
    Real Risks and Reordering Priorities
    Monetary Costs
    Environmental Cleanup at the Nevada Test Site
    Characterization of Waste Destined for WIPP

    Avoiding Risk


    The Case Against Risk
    Different Risks
    Agent-Agent Interactions
    Dose as a Surrogate for Risk
    The Case for Dose
    A Dose-Based System of Protection
    Regulatory Dose Limit
    Natural Background
    Acceptable Dose
    Management Decisions Based on Dose Proportion
    Simplification of Radiation Quantities and Units
    Review of the Current System of Radiation Protection

    Radiation from the Gods


    The Watras Case
    Human Exposure to Radon
    Health Hazards of Radon
    Is There Really a Public Health Hazard?
    Public Health
    Perceptions and Fears
    Economic Impacts
    National/Regional Differences

    Hold the Phone


    Will Cell Phones “Fry” Your Brain?
    Managing Phantom Risks
    Imprudent Precaution
    International Calls

    PR Campaign: Proportion, Prioritization, and Precaution


    Proportion
    Prioritization
    Precaution

    Glossary


    Index

    Biography

    Kenneth L. Mossman is a professor of health physics in the School of Life Sciences and affiliated faculty member of the Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology at Arizona State University in Tempe, where he has also served as assistant vice president for research and director of the university’s Office of Radiation Safety. Prior to his arrival at Arizona State University, Dr. Mossman was a faculty member of the medical and dental schools at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and was professor and founding chairman of the Department of Radiation Science at Georgetown’s Graduate School. His research interests include radiological health and safety and public policy. Dr. Mossman has authored more than 150 publications related to radiation health issues. He served as president of the Health Physics Society and received its prestigious Elda Anderson Award, the Marie Curie Gold Medal, and the Founder’s Award. He has been a Sigma Xi distinguished lecturer and is a fellow of the Health Physics Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served on committees of the National Research Council, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna). Dr. Mossman earned a BS in biology from Wayne State University, MS and PhD degrees in radiation biology from the University of Tennessee, and an MEd degree in higher education administration from the University of Maryland. Dr. Mossman is also author of The Radiobiological Basis of Radiation Protection Practice (1992) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, with William Mills and Arbitrary and Capricious (2004) AEI Press, Washington, DC with Gary Marchant.

    “… the book provides a useful source of information on how risks, and especially radiological risks, are assessed, evaluated and communicated by/to a variety of stakeholders including scientists, legislators, pressure groups and the public. … The book contains a great deal of interesting information and is certainly thought-provoking. It also contains some useful cross-references to chemical risks and how these are addressed. … The book is intended for scientists, lawyers, engineers, policy makers and public health professionals …  ”
    — Ron Brown, in the Journal of Radiological Protection

    “The book is written in a spirited tone…. It imposes a minimum burden of mathematical symbols, freshens graphs from the older literature to make them easy for a broad audience to understand, and provides simply formatted tables that list the main concepts as they are introduced. …notes following every chapter…deepen the exposition…. The mixing of a studied description of risk management with advocacy, debate, and some stridency makes for an exciting read. …gives anyone interested in risk management policy the perspective of a well-read, involved, and spirited actor in the field.”
    —Mark P. Langer, Indiana University School of Medicine, writing in the American Journal of Roentgenology, (189) 1