Author: National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 9780309275774 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Radiation exposure at low doses (below 100 milligray) or low-dose rates (less than 5 milligray per hour) occurs in a wide range of medical, industrial, military, and commercial settings. The effects of exposure at these levels are not fully understood, but there are long-standing concerns that such exposure could negatively affect human health. Although cancer has been linked to low-dose radiation exposure for decades, there is increasing evidence that low-dose radiation exposure may also be associated with cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, immune dysfunction, and cataracts. Recent advances in research, new tools, and a coordinated multidisciplinary research program could help fill knowledge gaps about the health impacts of low-dose radiation exposures. This report calls for the development of a U.S. research program to study how low doses of radiation affect cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, and other disease risks. Research should also better define the impacts of radiation doses, dose rates, types of radiation, and exposure duration. The report estimates $100 million annually for the next 15 years would be required to conduct epidemiological and biological research, and to establish an infrastructure for research.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 030949771X Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 143
Book Description
Exposures at low doses of radiation, generally taken to mean doses below 100 millisieverts, are of primary interest for setting standards for protecting individuals against the adverse effects of ionizing radiation. However, there are considerable uncertainties associated with current best estimates of risks and gaps in knowledge on critical scientific issues that relate to low dose radiation. The Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academies hosted the symposium on The Future of Low Dose Radiation Research in the United States on May 8 and 9, 2019. The goal of the symposium was to provide an open forum for a national discussion on the need for a long-term strategy to guide a low dose radiation research program in the United States. The symposium featured presentations on low dose radiation programs around the world, panel discussions with representatives from governmental and nongovernmental organizations about the need for a low dose radiation research program, reviews of low dose radiation research in epidemiology and radiation biology including new directions, and lessons to be learned from setting up large research programs in non-radiation research fields. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the symposium.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309096103 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 431
Book Description
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was set up by Congress in 1990 to compensate people who have been diagnosed with specified cancers and chronic diseases that could have resulted from exposure to nuclear-weapons tests at various U.S. test sites. Eligible claimants include civilian onsite participants, downwinders who lived in areas currently designated by RECA, and uranium workers and ore transporters who meet specified residence or exposure criteria. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which oversees the screening, education, and referral services program for RECA populations, asked the National Academies to review its program and assess whether new scientific information could be used to improve its program and determine if additional populations or geographic areas should be covered under RECA. The report recommends Congress should establish a new science-based process using a method called "probability of causation/assigned share" (PC/AS) to determine eligibility for compensation. Because fallout may have been higher for people outside RECA-designated areas, the new PC/AS process should apply to all residents of the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and overseas US territories who have been diagnosed with specific RECA-compensable diseases and who may have been exposed, even in utero, to radiation from U.S. nuclear-weapons testing fallout. However, because the risks of radiation-induced disease are generally low at the exposure levels of concern in RECA populations, in most cases it is unlikely that exposure to radioactive fallout was a substantial contributing cause of cancer.
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (2011). Subcommittee on Energy Publisher: ISBN: Category : Radiation Languages : en Pages : 66
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309110149 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 232
Book Description
In the United States there are several thousand devices containing high-activity radiation sources licensed for use in areas ranging from medical uses such as cancer therapy to safety uses such as testing of structures and industrial equipment. Those radiation sources are licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state agencies. Concerns have been raised about the safety and security of the radiation sources, particularly amid fears that they could be used to create dirty bombs, or radiological dispersal device (RDD). In response to a request from Congress, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission asked the National Research Council to conduct a study to review the uses of high-risk radiation sources and the feasibility of replacing them with lower risk alternatives. The study concludes that the U.S. government should consider factors such as potential economic consequences of misuse of the radiation sources into its assessments of risk. Although the committee found that replacements of most sources are possible, it is not economically feasible in some cases. The committee recommends that the U.S. government take steps to in the near term to replace radioactive cesium chloride radiation sources, a potential "dirty bomb" ingredient used in some medical and research equipment, with lower-risk alternatives. The committee further recommends that longer term efforts be undertaken to replace other sources. The book presents a number of options for making those replacements.
Author: Institute of Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309176115 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 107
Book Description
Over the past several decades, public concern over exposure to ionizing radiation has increased. This concern has manifested itself in different ways depending on the perception of risk to different individuals and different groups and the circumstances of their exposure. One such group are those U.S. servicemen (the "Atomic Veterans" who participated in the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site or in the Pacific Proving Grounds, who served with occupation forces in or near Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or who were prisoners of war in or near those cities at the time of, or shortly after, the atomic bombings. This book addresses the feasibility of conducting an epidemiologic study to determine if there is an increased risk of adverse reproductive outcomes in the spouses, children, and grandchildren of the Atomic Veterans.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309371333 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 203
Book Description
Passenger screening at commercial airports in the United States has gone through significant changes since the events of September 11, 2001. In response to increased concern over terrorist attacks on aircrafts, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has deployed security systems of advanced imaging technology (AIT) to screen passengers at airports. To date (December 2014), TSA has deployed AITs in U.S. airports of two different technologies that use different types of radiation to detect threats: millimeter wave and X-ray backscatter AIT systems. X-ray backscatter AITs were deployed in U.S. airports in 2008 and subsequently removed from all airports by June 2013 due to privacy concerns. TSA is looking to deploy a second-generation X-ray backscatter AIT equipped with privacy software to eliminate production of an image of the person being screened in order to alleviate these concerns. This report reviews previous studies as well as current processes used by the Department of Homeland Security and equipment manufacturers to estimate radiation exposures resulting from backscatter X-ray advanced imaging technology system use in screening air travelers. Airport Passenger Screening Using Backscatter X-Ray Machines examines whether exposures comply with applicable health and safety standards for public and occupational exposures to ionizing radiation and whether system design, operating procedures, and maintenance procedures are appropriate to prevent over exposures of travelers and operators to ionizing radiation. This study aims to address concerns about exposure to radiation from X-ray backscatter AITs raised by Congress, individuals within the scientific community, and others.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 030947082X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 89
Book Description
Spacecraft depend on electronic components that must perform reliably over missions measured in years and decades. Space radiation is a primary source of degradation, reliability issues, and potentially failure for these electronic components. Although simulation and modeling are valuable for understanding the radiation risk to microelectronics, there is no substitute for testing, and an increased use of commercial-off-the- shelf parts in spacecraft may actually increase requirements for testing, as opposed to simulation and modeling. Testing at the Speed of Light evaluates the nation's current capabilities and future needs for testing the effects of space radiation on microelectronics to ensure mission success and makes recommendations on how to provide effective stewardship of the necessary radiation test infrastructure for the foreseeable future.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309451256 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 77
Book Description
This is the fourth in a series of five letter reports that provide an independent review of the more than 30 evidence reports that NASA has compiled on human health risks for long-duration and exploration spaceflights.This letter report reviews eight evidence reports and examines the quality of the evidence, analysis, and overall construction of each report; identifies existing gaps in report content; and provides suggestions for additional sources of expert input.
Author: Francesca Grifo Publisher: Island Press ISBN: 9781559635004 Category : Health & Fitness Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The implications of biodiversity loss for the global environment have been widely discussed, but only recently has attention been paid to its direct and serious effects on human health. Biodiversity loss affects the spread of human diseases, causes a loss of medical models, diminishes the supplies of raw materials for drug discovery and biotechnology, and threatens food production and water quality. Biodiversity and Human Health brings together leading thinkers on the global environment and biomedicine to explore the human health consequences of the loss of biological diversity. Based on a two-day conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution, the book opens a dialogue among experts from the fields of public health, biology, epidemiology, botany, ecology, demography, and pharmacology on this vital but often neglected concern. Contributors discuss the uses and significance of biodiversity to the practice of medicine today, and develop strategies for conservation of these critical resources. Topics examined include: the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss emerging infectious diseases and the loss of biodiversity the significance and use of both prescription and herbal biodiversity-derived remedies indigenous and local peoples and their health care systems sustainable use of biodiversity for medicine an agenda for the future In addition to the editors, contributors include Anthony Artuso, Byron Bailey, Jensa Bell, Bhaswati Bhattacharya, Michael Boyd, Mary S. Campbell, Eric Chivian, Paul Cox, Gordon Cragg, Andrew Dobson, Kate Duffy-Mazan, Robert Engelman, Paul Epstein, Alexandra S. Fairfield, John Grupenhoff, Daniel Janzen, Catherine A. Laughin, Katy Moran, Robert McCaleb, Thomas Mays, David Newman, Charles Peters, Walter Reid, and John Vandermeer. The book provides a common framework for physicians and biomedical researchers who wish to learn more about environmental concerns, and for members of the environmental community who desire a greater understanding of biomedical issues.
Author: National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: National Research Council
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (2011). Subcommittee on Energy
Author: National Research Council
Author: Institute of Medicine
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: Francesca Grifo