-oCHROMOSOME ABERRATIONS AND POSSIBLE GENETIC EFECTS OF RADIATION
Several studies among exposed populations have strongly
suggested a direct link between exposure to ionizing radiation
and chromosome and genetic damage.
As early as 1925 reports began to surface about the illeffects associated with the ingestion of radium and other
radioactive materials among the women who were formerly employed
as luminous-dial painters,
In a February 12th, 1966 issue of
the British Medical Journal, J.T. Boyd, et al., concluded that
there was a linear dose-response between the intake of radium
and chromosome abnormality among the radium-dial painters.
Likewise,
a linear dose-response between exposure to ionizing
radiation and chromosome aberration was noted among former
dockyard workers who handled radioactive substances.
article in Nature
In an
("Radiation-Induced Chromosome Aberrations in
Nuclear-Dockyard Workers," Volume 277, February 15,
1979, pp.
531-34), H.J. Bates, et al. studied a group of workers who were
exposed to neutron and gamma radiation during the refueling of
nuclear reactors.
His research indicates that most exposures
were below the internationally accepted maximum permissible level
of 5 rem per year, and that there was a significant incidence of
chromosome aberration in peripheral blood lymphocytes ten years
after their exposure.
In the 26-Year medical follow-up study of the Marshall
Islanders who were exposed to radioactive fallout,
researchers
for the Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that at
least 50% of the exposed Marshallese have manif
ested a rare form