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Review
. 2017 Apr:154:452-458.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2016.11.024. Epub 2016 Dec 11.

The threshold vs LNT showdown: Dose rate findings exposed flaws in the LNT model part 2. How a mistake led BEIR I to adopt LNT

Edward J Calabrese  1
Affiliations
Review

The threshold vs LNT showdown: Dose rate findings exposed flaws in the LNT model part 2. How a mistake led BEIR I to adopt LNT

Edward J Calabrese. Environ Res. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

This paper reveals that nearly 25 years after the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) I Committee (1972) used Russell's dose-rate data to support the adoption of the linear-no-threshold (LNT) dose response model for genetic and cancer risk assessment, Russell acknowledged a significant under-reporting of the mutation rate of the historical control group. This error, which was unknown to BEIR I, had profound implications, leading it to incorrectly adopt the LNT model, which was a decision that profoundly changed the course of risk assessment for radiation and chemicals to the present.

Keywords: Dose-rate; Hormesis; LNT; Linear dose response; Specific locus test.

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