Radiation hormesis: challenging LNT theory via ecological and evolutionary considerations

Health Physics
Peter A Parsons

Abstract

Ecological and evolutionary considerations suggest that radiation hormesis is made up of two underlying components. The first (a) is background radiation hormesis based upon the background exposure to which all organisms are subjected throughout evolutionary time. The second and much larger component (b) is stress-derived radiation hormesis arising as a protective mechanism derived from metabolic adaptation to environmental stresses throughout evolutionary time especially from climate-based extremes. Since (b) > > (a), hormesis for ionizing radiation becomes an evolutionary expectation at exposures substantially exceeding background. This biological model renders linear no-threshold theory invalid. Accumulating evidence from experimental organisms ranging from protozoa to rodents, and from demographic studies on humans, is consistent with this interpretation. Although hormesis is not universally accepted, the model presented can be subjected to hypothesis-based empirical investigations in a range of organisms. At this stage, however, two consequences follow from this evolutionary model: (1) hormesis does not connote a value judgement usually expressed as a benefit; and (2) there is an emerging and increasingly convincing case f...Continue Reading

References

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Aug 1, 1995·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·J S ColemanR L Hallberg

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Citations

Apr 30, 2003·European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging·Lennart Johansson
Sep 14, 2002·Experimental Aging Research·Peter A Parsons
May 29, 2004·Health Physics·Ray D LloydScott C Miller
Mar 21, 2009·Applied Radiation and Isotopes : Including Data, Instrumentation and Methods for Use in Agriculture, Industry and Medicine·C R Aleta
Jul 24, 2008·Dose-response : a Publication of International Hormesis Society·R E J Mitchel
Jan 25, 2017·International Journal of Radiation Biology·Muhammad Torequl Islam

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