Health Effects from Different Radiation

Abstract

The health effects of radiation from atomic explosion in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, is completely different to radiation from the Co-60 contaminated apartments in Taiwan. The acute radiation suddenly exposed to the Japanese in extremely high dose could kill them and the harmful health effects in lower doses could increases the cancer mortality, especially the leukemia of the survivors based on the LNT model. The residents received chronic radiation unknowingly in the Co-60 Contaminated apartments in Taiwan with doses even higher than the Japanese Survivors, yet no excess cancer deaths were observed based on LNT model, on contrary their spontaneous cancer deaths were reduced sharply to about only 2.5% of the general population, and hereditary defects to their offspring only 5-7% of the population. Therefore the residents in the Co-60 contamination apartments had coincidently accomplished an experiment on the health effects to human beings. The chronic radiation from the Co-60 contaminated houses is quite similar to the radiation exposure to the workers and public in the peaceful of the nuclear energy and medical radiation, and is also similar to the radiation in high natural background and radon concentration. Acute radiation from a nuclear accident could harm limited number of people, but chronic radiation might benefit tremendous people. People should fear no more of the chronic radiation and the traditional radiation protection policy and practices used in past 60 years should be earnestly revised based on the health effects observed in Taiwan.