Font Size
BOOKLET to Provide Basic Information Regarding Health Effects of Radiation (1st Edition)
Chapter 4 Concept of Radiological Protection 4.1 Principles of Radiological Protection

Disputes over the LNT Model

Disputes over the LNT Model_Figure

Disputes over the appropriateness of adopting the linear non-threshold (LNT) model for the evaluation of risks of stochastic effects for radiation below 100 mSv have not been settled scientifically. For example, in 2006, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) publicized its position that the LNT model is scientifically appropriate, stating that there is epidemiological evidence to prove that radiation below 100 mSv also increases cancer risks.

On the other hand, the Académie de Médecine and the Académie de Science jointly publicized their position in 2005, stating that exposure to radiation below a certain dose does not actually cause cancer, leukemia, etc. and therefore that the LNT model represents overestimation not suited to the reality. As the grounds for their position, they cited such facts as that increases in cancer risks are not observed in data for residents in high natural radiation areas in India and China and that defensive biological reactions against low-dose radiation have been found one after another.

The ICRP Recommendations are intended to achieve a practical aim of radiological protection, i.e., the provision of a simpler and more reasonable assumption for the management of risks of low-dose exposure, by adopting the LNT model and defining the dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor as 2. On the other hand, the Recommendations also state that it is judged inappropriate for public health planning to estimate hypothetical incidences of cancer or hereditary diseases among a large number of people due to long-term exposure to very low doses of radiation in consideration of the uncertainties concerning low-dose exposure.

(Related to p.80 of Vol. 1, "Deterministic Effects and Stochastic Effects")

 

*Source:

  • The National Academy of Sciences, "Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR VII Phase 2," 2006
  • Aurengo, A. et al., "Dose–effect relationships and estimation of the carcinogenic effects of low doses of ionizing radiation," Académie des Sciences - Académie nationale de Médecine, 2005
  • ICRP Publication 103, "The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection" (ICRP, 2007)
  • Included in this reference material on March 31, 2013
  • Updated on February 28, 2018
Download
Back to Top