2.
Birth Defects Risks
Table 3 gives the calculations for the estimates of birth defects.
B.
Risk Estimates Based on BEIR-III
Table 4 gives risk estimates based on BEIR-III risk coefficients.
These
were calculated for comparison purposesconly and were not used in the
Bikini book.
The highest estimates -for cancer risk result from using
the linear relative risk model and are about the same as those given in
Table 2 for the relative risk model.
The lowest estimates result from
the linear-quadratic absolute risk model-and are slightly less than those
for the absolute model in Table 2.
Thus, as far as estimates of cancer
risk are concerned, those obtained using risk coefficients from BEIR-1
are in the same general range as those obtained using risk coefficients
from BEIR-III.
Risk estimates for birth defects obtained using the risk factor from
BEIR-I gives values about three times those obtained using the upper
value of the range of risk factors given in BEIR-III.
If BEIR-III
risk factors for birth defects represent a more enlightened assessment
of this potential consequence of radiation exposure than the factor
taken from BEIR-I for overall health defects, then the estimates in
the Bikini book may be conservative by a factor of three.