Open AccessTime to Reject the Linear-No Threshold Hypothesis and Accept Thresholds and Hormesis
Author(s) -
Carol S. Marcus
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
clinical nuclear medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.637
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1536-0229
pISSN - 0363-9762
DOI - 10.1097/rlu.0000000000000835
Subject(s) - hormesis , medicine , upload , oxidative stress , computer science , endocrinology , operating system
On February 9, 2015, I submitted a petition to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reject the linear-no threshold (LNT) hypothesis and ALARA as the bases for radiation safety regulation in the United States, using instead threshold and hormesis evidence. In this article, I will briefly review the history of LNT and its use by regulators, the lack of evidence supporting LNT, and the large body of evidence supporting thresholds and hormesis. Physician acceptance of cancer risk from low dose radiation based upon federal regulatory claims is unfortunate and needs to be reevaluated. This is dangerous to patients and impedes good medical care. A link to my petition is available: http://radiationeffects.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Hormesis-Petition-to-NRC-02-09-15.pdf, and support by individual physicians once the public comment period begins would be extremely important.