(October 31, 1997) According to Dr. Eric Wright of Britain's Medical Research Council, the internationally accepted levels of one milisievert per year can damage the DNA in a way that could harm the gene pool, wreck future generations and kill. Radiation can also damage cells in a way that cannot be detected until they have divided several times. This is called radiation-induced genomic instability.
(480.4770) WISE Amsterdam -In the October 11 issue of New Scientist new evidence of genetic damage at a low dose is revealed. In an article on the impact of radiation on genome stability, Dr. Wright of Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) is quoted. He gives information on the possibility that even internationally accepted levels of one milisievert per year can damage the DNA in a way that could harm the gene pool, wreck future generations and kill. These inheritable genetic defects are not described in the well-documented effects of the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities or the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine. The problem is that radiation can also damage cells in a way that cannot be detected until they have divided several times. He calls this radiation-induced genomic instability. The article refers to different research projects (published and pending) and also reveals that some people are more vulnerable to genetic instability than others. Although irrefutable evidence is still lacking, Wright believes that induced genomic instability causes cancers like leukemia, and may result in small increases in many other diseases.
This information is supported by Dr. Baverstock of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Prof. Goodhead of the MRC and 30 other scientists at a workshop on public health and radiation. Other scientists, however, are irritated. Roger Cox of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) dismissed the fears as unscientific scaremongering. The NRPB thinks that the existing safeguards are adequate. The NRPB developed the Euratom Directive's "Exemption Values" and related "Clearance Levels" which would deregulate disposal and recycling to radioactive waste.
Sources:
- Low Level Radiation Campaign, 11 October 1997
- Reuter, 9 October 1997
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