Health effects in women exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation Page: 5 of 32
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Fabrikant 2
Third is the matter of low-dose radiation and the pregnant woman. This
situation requires special consideration for radiological protection, both
for women in the general population and in the workplace. There are implications
concerning exposure of women in the childbearing age, the radiation-induction
of developmental abnormalities in the newborn [2], and possibly childhood
cancers [2,3].
There are other potential delayed or late health effects of radiation
which may be of importance to women, such as the special sensitivity of
the oocyte, or certain sex-linked genetically-related health effects.
However, the three which appear to have importance at the present time in
radiological protection are: (1) the probability of cancer-induction at
low doses and low-dose rates; (2) the consideration of those cancers in
women, notably the breast and the thyroid, attributable to radiation exposure;
and (3) the probability of induction of developmental abnormalities in the
newborn following low-dose exposure of pregnant women.
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
Until the 1950s it was commonly assumed that only high-dose radiation
exposure caused cancer. Unless the exposures were high enough to cause
clinically detectable damage to the irradiated tissues with consequent tissue
disorganization, cancer would not occur. That assumption is now considered
incorrect; low-dose radiation can cause cancer, although the dose-response
relationships at low-dose levels are not known with certainty. There exists
a finite risk of cancer-induction at lower doses, and there is no apparent
threshold dose below which exposure to radiation can be considered without risk.
This has now been recognized during the past 20 years, primarily because
radiation-induced cancers do not differ in any known way from those occurring
naturally or those caused by other carcinogenic agents.
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Fabrikant, Jacob I. Health effects in women exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation, article, June 1, 1982; [Berkeley,] California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1072451/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.