Quantitative Inferences concerning the Genetic Effects of Radiation on Human Beings

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Abstract
Extrapolation from a theoretical mathematical analysis of reported natural and radiation-induced mutation frequencies for many forms to the probability of increased incidence of mutation and appearnace of anomalies in offspring of routinely exposed radiation workers leads to the conclusion that workers who receive 250 roentgens (r) over a 10-yr. period (the maximum permissible dosage for workers in U.S.) before having children will have 1.5% more recessive mutants. If married to unrelated and unirradiated spouse, the offspring will show 1.5% more anomalies due to recessive genes than if parent were unirradiated. The chance of the appearance of anomaly due to a dominant gene is 25% greater, but since the frequency of dominant mutations is extremely low, the number of anomalies introduced would not be significant. No detectable increase of hereditary abnormalities in the population as a whole is likely to result, even after many generations, if a small fraction of the population receives daily radiation up to 0.1 r.