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How Important is Radiation in Cancer Risk?

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Social Dilemmas in Cancer Prevention

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Abstract

If the cancer hazard from radiation was as great as is suggested by the publicity it receives in the popular media, radiation would indeed be the most carcinogenic agent known. In fact, although Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl, Goiana and other recent emergencies have heightened public fear of radiation, ionizing radiation is one of the less important causes of cancer, accounting for only 3–12% of all fatal cancers (excluding skin cancers most of which are caused by non-ionizing solar radiation). This chapter discusses some basic issues in cancer risks from both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and considers the dilemmas involved in reducing these risks.

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Further Reading

  1. Causes and Effects of Changes in Stratospheric Ozone: Update (1984) National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC

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  2. Effects on Populations of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation (1980) National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington DC

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  3. Health Effects of Low Level Radiation (1984) (Ed. W.R. Hendee), Appleton-Century-Crofts, Norwalk, Conn

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  4. Health Risks of Radon and other Internally Deposited Alpha-Emitters (1988) National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC

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  5. Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the United States (1987) National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Md

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  6. Ionizing Radiation: Sources and Biological Effects (1982) United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, United Nations, New York

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Authors
  1. Marc Edwards
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  2. William Hendee
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Departments, St Thomas’ Hospital and Royal Free Hospital, London, UK

    Basil A. Stoll FRCR, FFR (Honorary Consulting Physician) (Honorary Consulting Physician)

Copyright information

© 1989 The Editor and the Contributors

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Edwards, M., Hendee, W. (1989). How Important is Radiation in Cancer Risk?. In: Stoll, B.A. (eds) Social Dilemmas in Cancer Prevention. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10708-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10708-7_6

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-10710-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-10708-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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