2.
Birth Defects Risks
Table 3 gives the calculations
B.
for the estimates of birth defects.
Risk Estimates Based on BEIR-111
Table 4 gives risk estimates based on BEIR-111 r’ sk coefficients.
were calculated
Bikini book.
for comparison purposes~only
These
and were not used in the
The highest estimates for cancer r“ sk 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 linear-quadratic
The lowest estimates result from
absolute risk model and
for the absolute model in Table 2.
are slightly less than those
Thus, as far as estimates of cancer
risk are concerned, those obtained using risk coefficients
are in.the same general range as those obtained
from BEIR-1
using risk coefficients
from BEIR-111.
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-111.
If BEIR-111
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.