Siegel JA, Greenspan BS, Maurer AH, Taylor AT, Phillips WT, Van Nostrand D, Sacks B, Silberstein EB, (click to view)
Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine 2018 02 23() pii jnumed.117.206219
Abstract
The 2006 National Academy of Sciences Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII report is a well recognized and frequently cited source on the legitimacy of the linear no-threshold (LNT) model – a model entailing a linear and causal relationship between ionizing radiation and human cancer risk. Linearity means that all radiation causes cancer and explicitly excludes a threshold, below which radiogenic cancer risk disappears. However, the BEIR VII Committee has erred in the interpretation of their selected literature; specifically, thedata quoted fail to support LNT. Moreover,data cannot be considered as definitive proof of cancer development in intact organisms. This review is presented to stimulate a critical reevaluation by a BEIR VIII committee to reassess the validity, and use, of LNT and its derived policies.