Revision 1
March 19, 1998
by Radiation, Science, and Health, Inc.,
Edited by J. Muckerheide

1.9
Conclusions

"The linear, no-threshold doctrine, currently held within the international radiation protection is, to say the least, remarkable. It is incredible to me that such an extremely complex phenomenon as the dose-response of radiogenic cancer could be assumed to be adequately characterized by an equation of the first degree - i.e. a straight line. The question is not whether a straight line can be approximated to an observed dose-response curve but it is claimed that the curve is linear and, therefore, can be extrapolated outside the dose-area within which the observations are made. The linearity is thus said to be an intrinsic property of radiogenic cancer."

"Cancer is a disturbance of the most fundamental life process in multi-cellular organisms, i.e. the cellular differentiation. Life processes and the complex mechanisms underlying such dysdifferentiations that may lead to cancer can certainly not be replaced by simple equations or - as has in fact been suggested - by the addition of a constant to the radiation parameter in such mathematical expressions.

"Where is the scientific skepticism and from where does the certainty emanate that we can pretend to have knowledge about the effects of even ‘homoeopathic’ radiation doses?

"I don’t hesitate to say that the linear, no-threshold hypothesis is one of the greatest scientific scandals in modern time." [Emphasis added.]