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Pathology effects at radiation doses below those causing increased mortalityMortality data from experiments conducted at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) on the long-term effects of external whole-body irradiation on B6CF(1) mice were used to investigate radiation-induced effects at intermediate doses of (60)Co gamma rays or fission-spectrum neutrons either delivered as a single exposure or protracted over 60 once-weekly exposures. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to identify the lowest dose in the ANL data (within radiation quality, pattern of exposure, and sex) at which radiation-induced mortality caused by primary tumors could be detected (approximately 1-2 Gy for gamma rays and 10-15 cGy for neutrons). Doses at and below these levels were then examined for radiation-induced shifts in the spectrum of pathology detected at death. To do this, specific pathology events were pooled into larger assemblages based on whether they were cancer, cardiovascular disease or non-neoplastic diseases detected within the lungs and pleura, liver and biliary tract, reproductive organs, or urinary tract. Cancer and cardiovascular disease were further subdivided into categories based on whether they caused death, contributed to death, or were simply observed at death. Counts of how often events falling within each of these combined pathology categories occurred within a mouse were then used as predictor variables in logistic regression to determine whether irradiated mice could be distinguished from control mice. Increased pathology burdens were detected in irradiated mice at doses lower than those causing detectable shifts in mortality-22 cGy for gamma rays and 2 cGy for neutrons. These findings suggest that (1) models based on mortality data alone may underestimate radiation effects, (2) radiation may have adverse health consequences (i.e. elevated health risks) even when mortality risks are not detected, and (3) radiation-induced pathologies other than cancer do occur, and they involve multiple organ systems.
Document ID
20040088239
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Carnes, Bruce A.
(National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States)
Gavrilova, Natalia
Grahn, Douglas
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 2002
Publication Information
Publication: Radiation research
Volume: 158
Issue: 2
ISSN: 0033-7587
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Radiation Health

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