Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-17


entists last week warned the Amer
lean Government-and the world
that man must not wade into
the atomic age with eyes closed.
The warning, broad report by
the National Academy of Sciences
| on the effects OF atomic radiation,
took pains to avoid alarmiSm in
| outlinings the conceivable conse-
| quenceS of mans tapping the Sec
rets of the universe.
Its most shaking section was writ
ten by the geneticistS, who had
| some prudent advice for all man
kind. They said:
. Radiation, no matter how small
the dose, shortens human life.
. Americans are using about one
third of the safety limit on medical
and dental X-rays.
. The effects of radiation are
cumulative. There is no safe"
daily. weekly or monthly dose-it's
the total that counts.
. About nuclear war could make
the earth uninhabitable.
The geneticistS recommended
that a record showing total accu-
INFLATED exposure to atomic radia-
ton be kept for every person. They
said, in effect, that the world could
stop worrying about the radiation
| it is exposed to by nuclear weapons
teSting-if the testing is kept at the
present rate. Bomb explosion, they
declared, is the least harmful radia-
ton source, from the point of view
of populations. They stressed, how
ever. that every additional amount
Of radiation, no matter how small.
is harmful to man.
The panel explained the three
general sources of radiation as
| follows:
Background radiation - Cosmic
rays. chemicals, heat, naturally
occurring radium and other sources
in nature not under mans control
are a primary cause of radiation.
From this source, the average per-
son receives total of about 4.3
roentgenS. which are units used in
measuring radiation, over a 30
year period.
Medical X-rayS - The average
American receives over a 30-year
period an average accumulated dose
to the gonads (the sexual organs)
of about 3 roentgens from medical
X-radiation. doctors were warned
against overuse of the X-ray.)
Fall-Out from weapons testing
Persons in the United States have
been receiving over the last five
years dose of radiation that would
| produce one-tenth of roentgen in
80 years at the present rate of test
explosions. The committee cum
coded that such an estimate could
hardly be made with high pre-
cIsion."
Looking TO the Future
The geneticists were naturally
most concerned with the extent of
radiation effects on the reproduce
tive organs and the long-term dam
age to succeeding generations.
Repeatedly throughout the re-
port they cautioned that all radia-
ton, even the slightest amount, is
harmful. There is no minimum
amount of radiation which must be
exceeded before mutations, or
changes in the material governing
heredity, occur, the panel warned.
Any radiation that reaches the
reproductive cells causes mutations,
which may result in shorter lives,
tendencies to overweight, rheuma-
tiSm, high blood pressure, ETC., or
even lower intelligence quotient
in succeeding generations until the
line dies out.
| The committee demolished the
old wives tale that the mutations
frequently are manifested in the
birth of monsters. While this may
occur, it said, it would be quite
rare. The radiation damage to
reproduction is cumulative and de-
ponds on the total accumulated
dose received by the gonads from
the conception of a person to the
conception of the last child.
OF more immediate concern is
the shortening of the life spans of
persons exposed to radiation. The
panel cited data compiled by
another of the committees, that on
pathology, showing examples of
shortened life spans among radi-
ologists and others who work with
irradiating materials:
Physicians having no known con-
tact with radiation have an average
life span of 63.7 years, compared
to 63.3 years among the specialists
such as biologists and dermatolo-
gistS whose contact with radiation
is slight, and COS years for radi-
ologists. The average American
over rs years old can expect to live
65.6 years.
The National Academy's report,
while making it clear that there
is no such thing as tolerable limit
of radiation dosage, did set limit
beyond which serious damage to
mankind might result Individual
persons" it warned, should not re-
ceive total accumulated dose to