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Show r Page 14C THE HERALD, Provo. Utah, Thursday, November 22, 1979 denii - One of Thomas A. WASHINGTON (UPI) Edison's many 19th Century inventions produced the first evidence that radiation can cause cancer. Edison invented the fluoroscope in 1896 to put the to work for medicine. The newly discovered y machine was displayed that year at an exhibition in "The risk of cancer may conceivably be increased by subtle damage to only a single cell in an appropriately conditioned or susceptible individual" Upton said in a recent report. Not everyone develops cancer from radiation, indicating several factors may have to work together, or in sequence, to start the cancer process. Leukemia, a disease in which some of the white cells of the blood become malignant is one of the most common forms of cancer associated with radiation and the earliest to make its appearance following radiation damage. Leukemia caused by radiation may develop within only two years after the exposure. Marie Curie discoverer of radium in 1898. and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curiboth died of leukemia possibly because of the cumulative exposure to radiation from years of working with radioactive materials. Recent research indicates that the female breast to radiation-induce- d also is particularly susceptible cancer. A key question that still remains is whether there is a threshold radiation dose below which the risk of cancer will not be increased. This question took on extra significance following the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident last March. The government estimates that the maximum radiation dose to a hypothetical person standing around the clock just outside the plant would have been only 83 millirem. (One rem is an exposure dose eqivalent or gamma rays, the biologically to 1 rad of kind of radiations humans are most likely to be exof a rem). posed to. One millirem is To be on the safe side, most health specialists today work on the assumption that there is no threshold; that even small doses of radiation can cause cancer, albeit the risk decreases to close to zero at the smallest levels. Thus, government officials calculate the Three Mile Island radiation release might be responsible for a single extra cancer death added to the 325,000 that normally would be expected in the lifetimes of the 2 million people living within 50 miles of the Pennsylvania plant. Working on the nothreshold assumption, Upton said, "No exposure to radiation is justifiable if it is avoidable or fails to provide a benefit commensurate with its presumed risk." Just what is known about the risk of developing radiation-induced cancer? Although tests with laboratory animals can suggest the types of risks humans might face from various radiation doses, the best way to make a human risk assessment is by studying the effects of radiation in large numbers of people and combining that information witu what else is known about radiation. surConsequently, the experience of the vivors in Japan offers scientists the most important effects of source of information on the long-terionizing radiation. There were about 285,000 survivors in 1950. Although some received massive doses of radiation, Dr. Gilbert W. Beebe of the National Cancer Institute estimates that 75 percent of the survivors received 1 rad or less. He said 415 cancer deaths attributable to radiation had occurred by 1974: This is in addition to 13,000 "normal" cancer deaths that would be expected in such a large group of people over 30 years. Leukemias were the first radiation-induce- d survivors. Showing up cancers seen in the later were cancers of the lung, breast and thyroid. New York Edison's assistant Clarence Madison Dally, demonstrated the fluoroscope's ability to show y shadows of the skeleton by frequently placing a hand in the crude device. The skin on Daily's hand soon became ulcerated. The sores developed into cancers and doctors amputated the hand and then the arm in a futile attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Dally died in 1904 of cancer that had invaded the lungs. Dr. Arthur Upton director of the National Cancer Institute and a specialist on the effects of radiation, says Daily's death is the first known to cancer. have been caused by radiation-induceThe risks of radiation however, were slow to be recognized. Early radiologists used to set bones under fluoroscopes with their bare hands and absorbed thousands and even tens of thousands of rads, a standard unit of radiation. (A chest y produces less than 0.03 rad). Many developed skin cancers and by the 1940's, it was apparent that radiologists were developing at much higher cancer of the blood leukemia than average rates. The link between radiation and cancer continued to build and was reinforced considerably by painstaking studies of the survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Of all the environmental agents known to cause cancer, specialists say radiation has received the most study. But major questions remain today about the amount of radiation required to initiate the process in which cells go haywire and develop into cancer. Radiation, of course, is everywhere in the form of light from the sun and heat emissions of people, for example. But more energetic radiation such as and gamma rays carry enough concentrations of energy to change the structure of atoms. When these rays crash into atoms, they strip away electrons. This process is called ionization and it is ionizing radiation that concerns cancer researchers. It can cause harmful chemical changes in the body. Radiation can destroy a tissue cell outright, or if the radiation leaves the cell without the reference material to reproduce itself, it will be unable to divide and will die. Cells damaged by radiation can the recover if their genes and chromosomes remain sufficiently intact. cell's blueprints There are many tissues in the body that must be renewed by constant cell division. The outer layers of the skin are replaced by cell division as is the lining of the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines as well as white blood cells. Many of the effects of high doses of radiation result primarily from the inability of cells to divide. The resulting radiation sickness can be mild if the damage has not been too severe or it can be fatal when too many cells are incapable of division. When radiation fails to halt cell division, more subtle changes can occur. Damage to the cell's reproduction blueprints might not be severe enough to halt division, yet the cell might not be able to duplicate itself normally. Thus the dividing cell will be deranged. ..,.:,.,,. Such mutations may be the seeds of cancer that will not become apparent for years or even decades. d Mill Radiation Risks - R- - The Conference Committee has House-Sena- ap- National Guard a-5- '- Make Your Own CHRISTMAS ffJ,:. dose?" There is, as yet, no answer to that question. But Upton says this should not be surprising because the gathering of scientific evidence takes time. "As we continue to study radiation, we may strengthen the evidence and validate our current beliefs, or we may refute what seemed true at the onset." President Carter Oct. 23 established a Radiation Policy Council to coordinate federal activities related to ionizing radiation. He also directed his budget office to see that a sound research program to look at long-terhealth effects of low level radiation begins in fiscal 1981. "The experience of these patients is of particular public health importance since the radiation was received during repeated exposures to low doses delivered over a period of several years," he said. One of the earliest studies involving workers exposed to radiation dealt with 1 474 women who dabg bed luminous paint on clock and instrument dials. The women consumed harmful radium-containin- laughter and memorable surprises. This season, give the unexpected. Choose a beautiful gift of 14 karat gold and diamonds from our delightfully merry holiday jewelry collections. It will be a treasured way to say "I love you" for the happiest of all seasons. . jt Jr vs-jj- " . 1 ' PROFESSIONAL KIT INCLUDES: v y Recipes patterns ,f I ? Instructions from professional baker - decorating ideas it vW'P V'' ml low-dos- radiation. Since most radiation damage information is based on exposures in the 100 rad range, Upton asks, "Can we assume that 1 rad is going to produce 1100th the damage observed at 100 rads? Or will it produce only 1 000th the damage of the higher MOUSE A i r Another study looked at tuberculosis patients suby jected to numerous fluoroscope examinations between 1930 and 1954. A lung was deliberately collapsed for a year or more in an effort to treat the disease and doctors the chests once a week or so to monitor treatment progress. Such treatment is no longer used. The patients had an average of 102 for a total radiation exposure of 150 rads. Boice conducted the study and reported two years ago that of 1,047 exposed women, 4 percent developed breast cancers compared to 2 percent in a similar group of women who were not exposed to The holidays are a special time; of love, CHALET COOKIE Ln spondylitis. An evaluation in 1957 of the causes of death among 14,000 patients showed that 52 had developed leukemia while less than 6 cases would have been expected in such a group. The average radiation doses to the bone marrow, where white blood cells are produced, was estimated at 370 rad. The study found that the risk of leukemia was greatest 4 to 8 years after the radiation exposure, and then it decreased. leukemia is Assuming that radiation-cause- d directly proportional down to low doses, Boice said it was estimated that the risk of leukemia corresponded to 1 to 2 additional cases per year for every 1 million people exposed to 1 rad. Cancers of other heavily irradiated parts of the body, such as the lung and pancreas, began to show up 10 to 15 years after the radiation occurred. Similarly, American and Czechoslovakian uranium miners have been found to have an increased risk of developing lung cancer from breathing radon gas. More recently there has been a suggestion that workers at the government's Hanford, Wash., plutonium plant have an abnormal risk of developing multiple myleoma. a cancer of the plasma cells, and cancer of the pancreas from presumably low exposures to radiation. This is a controversial report, however and is still under investigation. Another controversial study under evaluation is the 1978 finding suggesting that workers who repaired and refueled nuclear submarines at the Portsmouth N. H., naval base had a higher than normal risk of developing leukemia again, from The apparently low doses over a long period. Hanford and Portsmouth studies suggest that the risk of cancer from low doses of radiation might be higher than previously estimated, according to a federal Interagency Task Force on Ionizing Radiation report issued earlier this year. But the report said no conclusions can be reached without more information. What can be said from the various studies conducted over the past two decades is that radiation can cause cancer even at relatively low doses, and that some tissues are more sensitive' than others to radiation. Scientists, however, are unable to predict with certainty the risk of developing cancer from doses of radiation under 5 rad or 5000 millirem those associated with current exposure. Humans always have been exposed to some ionizing radiation. The Earth itself is radioactive and additional radiation comes from cosmic rays. The average annual "natural" radiation exposure is 130 millirem. The National Academy of Sciences' Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation issued a preliminary report last May saying it is not known if the natural background radiation we all face is detrimental. But the panel's draft report said it appeared that anywhere from 268 to 1,031 cancers may develop over a lifetime for every million people exposed to 1 rad in a single exposure. The report was quickly withdrawn, however, because some panelists e thought that was overestimating the effects of 'Tis the season for diamond surprises. $50,000. Another $1 million will go to the Four Corners Regional Commission, ior use by Utah and Nevada in determing the social and economic impacts on the two states if the proposed MX Missile system is built in the Great Basin. F-1- ' "If the tests will have caused say, 50 cancer deaths among perhaps 400 000 people in their lifetime, 65,000 of whom would be expected to die of cancer in any event how might equity be achieved?" The Center for Disease Control reported earlier this year that based on information from 3.213 individuals present at the Smoky weapons test in 1957, eight cases of leukemia were found double what would be expected from a normal group this size. But it is not known whether the radiation or something else caused the excess leukemia. Another way of attempting to calculate the cancer risk of radiation exposure is by the study of relatively small groups of people exposed to known amounts of radiation either on the job or in medical therapy. Dr. John D. Boice of the NCI said the most important study of medical exposure was carried out on British patients who were irradiated for a rheumatoid condition of the spine called ankylosing to make fine tips. Four percent of the workers developed bone cancers and 1 percent developed cancers of the sinuses and mastoid, but the risk for a specific radiation dose cannot be determined amounts of radium by licking paint brushes Schubach The Tooele Army Depot will receive $1.75 million for 1980 fiscal year construction projects. Dugway Proving Ground $520,000, and the Utah Air te proved $9.31 million for military with construction projects in Utah the bulk of the funds going to Hill Air Force Base. The northern Utah Air Force complex will get 13.74 million for aircraft operation and maintenance facilities for 6 projects at Hill, and $3.25 million for energy conservation programs on the base. , seminar. Gets Money WASHINGTON (UPI) I increase in skin and bone cancers has not been seen. Tens of thousands of Americans were exposed to low levels of radiation from nuclear weapons test fallout in eastern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northern Arizona in the 1950s but Beebe said it is difficult to allocate responsibility for later cancers to radiation. "The problem is especially difficult because the radiation-induced cancers are surely but a small fraction of those expected to occur naturally, on the order of one in 1,000 " he said at a recent NCI An Illustration enlarged to show detail. Prices may van' due to fluctuation In diamond and gold markets. look charm in a 14 karat gold fashion ring. With one diamond. $625. 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