Leukemia from Low-Level Radiation

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Abstract
Current procedures for setting "safe" levels for exposure to low-level radiation are based on the assumption that the population exposed to the risk of leukemia (or other disease) is homogeneous. A new analysis of data on 295 children with leukemia and 813 random-sample controls (Tri-State Survey) demonstrates that this assumption is wrong. There are at least two subgroups ("susceptible" and "nonsusceptible") in the population. Exposure to low-level radiation such as diagnostic x-rays during pregnancy produces little increase in risk of leukemia in the "nonsusceptible" subseries. However, the same radiation exposure can increase relative risk almost 10 times in subseries with a relatively high proportion of "susceptible" subjects, who can be identified on a probability basis by information in the health record of mother and child. Preliminary analyses suggest that "nonsusceptible" children are unaffected by radiation-dosage orders of magnitudes greater than those that affect the "susceptible" group.

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