Medical X-ray Doses'' Contributions to the Ionizing Radiation Exposures of Atomic-Bomb Survivors

A Review of Forty-Five Years Study of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors I. DOSIMETRY

Abstract

Doses from diagnostic radiological examinations were measured in order to evaluate the radiation risks of atomic-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Using a phantom human, doses to the active bone marrow, gonads, salivary glands, thyroid gland, lung, breast, stomach and colon were determined by type of examination and by examination site. The results of this dosimetry program will aid in estimating the diagnostic exposure doses received by each participant in the Adult Health Study of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. The current results of these dosimetry studies also indicate that the effects of A-bomb exposure cannot be reliably assessed unless medical X-ray doses are carefully incorporated into these long-term evaluations.