CIRRPC Science Panel report No. 3 and 2: Review of the report of the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop Radioepidemiological Tables

This report of the Science Panel supplements an earlier document (included), which summarized the Panel`s views on the September, 1984, draft report of the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop Radioepidemiological Tables. Although the Orphan Drug Act requires that tables be produced for a range of dose from one millirad to 1000 rad, the Working Group chose to make no estimates below one rad. The Science Panel is in agreement with this judgment because in the low-dose range there is little empirical evidence of a carcinogenic effect in humans. In order for the Tables to be applicable, a person must have both one of the cancers listed in the Tables and a previous exposure to ionizing radiation. Therefore, the Tables should not be applied to determine the likelihood that a person having received a specific radiation dose will have such a cancer. The Panel`s previous recommendations were primarily concerned with three issues, use of Quality Factors, use of tables for exposures from internally deposited radionuclides, and treatment of uncertainties. In the final report, the Working Group has dispensed with the use of Quality Factors in treating the risks from internally deposited alpha emitters and has substantially expanded on its treatment of uncertainties. The Science Panel`s comments on these changes and other aspects of the report are included