The LD₅₀ Associated with Exposure to the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

A Review of Forty-Five Years Study of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors II. BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

Abstract

Numerous attempts have been made to estimate the distance at which 50% of the individuals exposed to the A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki died, ostensibly from their exposure to ionizing radiation. It is difficult to convert most of these distance estimates to a dose-related LD₅₀, since radiation shielding was ignored. The recent reassessment of the atomic bomb radiation dosimetry has provided an opportunity for the estimation of the bone marrow LD₅₀. There is a surprising concordance in the various estimates that have been made given the different groups of survivors involved and the methods used to estimate the LD_50/60.