Radiation Hazards

Health hazard can arise from the careless or unintellegent handling of radioactive materials, through external irradiation or ingestion and inhalation of radioactive isotopes. Control measures of the Atomic Energy Commissions and local radiological health programs have provided this industry with an enviable safety record.

The nuclear age was ushered in with the discovery abd isolation of radium from pitchblende in 1898 by Marie Sklowdoska Curie and Pierre Curie. The first sustained chain reaction at the University of Chicago in 1941 was the signal for the beginning of a new industry which may well modify our way of life. However, this development has created potential health problems by introducing a somewhat new facet to the environment: the hazards of exposure to ionizing radiation.

Today nuclear reactors propel submarines, as well as surface craft, and provide economically competitive electric power. Radioactive isotopes are being used extensively in medical diagnosis and therapy. They serve as invaluable research tool in a broad variety of projects.

The centering of attention on radiation hazards, associated with the "atomic age," has led to studies also of the use of x-rays for diagnosis and treatment. These studies show that certain leukimia, cancers, of the thyroid and the central nervous system, and other diseases and abnormalities are related to the use of x-rays. The risk is particularly great for an unborn child exposed to radiation. A Harvard School of Public Health study of 450,000 infants showed an incidence of cancer of up to 30 percent following prenetal irradiation. Some Japanese children exposed before birth to atomic bomb radiation were born with abnormally small heads and mental defects. Elsewhere prenetal xposure to x-rays has been blamed for similar anomalies.

Today x-ray procedures that have produced clearly documented harmful effects are either no longer used or are used  only when the risk of not using them is greater than the risk of giving them.

The possibility of exposure to tiny doses of enviromental radiation, as well as the possibility of catasthropic accidents, is responsible for the increasing fear concerning the construction of atomic powered lectric plants around the country.

Dangerous  amounts of radioactive particles may be scattered over the earth by the explosion of atomic or hydrogen (thermonuclear) bombs. The international nuclear test-ban treaty has greatly reduced radiation fallout from the atmosphere. Furthermore, these hazards are monitored and evaluated by well-trained scientist who from time to time supply from the public with information and advice. As yet, the amount of radiation exposure from fallout does not equal ordinary "background" radiation from the ground, cosmic rays, stone or brick buildings, people, etc.

The destructive power of atomic and thermonuclear bombs and the harmful effects of the radiation which they generate upon all living things are well known. however, x-rays and radioactive chemical are essential for medical diagnosis and treatment, and nuclear reactors are being built as sources of power for many uses. This is desirable progress. But the possible harmful effects of radiation from these sources presents a continuing health problem of tremendous importance.