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Science 17 May 1957:
Vol. 125. no. 3255, pp. 965 - 972
DOI: 10.1126/science.125.3255.965
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Articles

Leukemia and Ionizing Radiation

E. B. Lewis 1

1 Professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

Leukemia in man can be induced by ionizing radiations and also occurs spontaneously. For the "average" individual in a population, the probability of developing radiation-induced leukemia is estimated to be 2 x 10–6 per rad (unit of absorbed dose of radiation) per year. The available data from four independent sources make it likely that this estimate is valid within a factor of about 3, giving a range from 0.7 x 10–6 to 6 x 10–6 per rad per year. It is pointed out that 10 to 20 percent of the spontaneous incidence of leukemia (Brooklyn, 1943-52) may result from radiation from natural background sources. It is estimated that a 5- to 10-percent increase in the current spontaneous incidence of leukemia would occur if the population were to reach and maintain a body level of Sr90 amounting to one-tenth of the "maximum permissible concentration."


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Irradiation Leukemogenesis.
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Leukemia, Multiple Myeloma, and Aplastic Anemia in American Radiologists.
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Life Shortening and Tumor Production by Strontium-90.
V. E. Archer and B. E. Carroll (1960)
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Radiation Injury.
J. G. Kereiakes and A. T. Krebs (1960)
Arch Intern Med 105, 4-6
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Environmental Radiation and Cancer: No threshold is demonstrable, and incidence may have rising inflection with intensity.
H. F. Blum (1959)
Science 130, 1545-1547
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THE CLINICAL RADIOLOGIST AND THE PROBLEMS OF RADIATION HAZARDS.
W. G. Scott (1959)
JAMA 170, 421-428
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Reviews of Internal Medicine: A Primer on Radiation Hazards for Physicians.
R. E. PETERSON, J. G. BARON, B. M. KENT, and T. C. EVANS (1959)
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Hazard to Man of Carbon-14: What problems are encountered in the quantitative estimation of the biological hazards of carbon-14?.
J. R. Totter, M. R. Zelle, and H. Hollister (1958)
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Chapter I: Physical Growth.
K. Jensen (1958)
Review of Educational Research 28, 375-391
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Critique of the Linear Theory of Carcinogenesis: Present data on human leukemogenesis by radiation indicate that a nonlinear relation is more probable.
A. M. Brues (1958)
Science 128, 693-699
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COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF GENETIC HAZARD DUE TO DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY: REPORT BASED IN PART ON STUDY OF EXPOSURES IN A SMALL AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CITY.
W. D. Norwood (1958)
JAMA 167, 1928-1935
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MEDICINE'S GENETIC HORIZONS.
J. V. NEEL (1958)
Ann Intern Med 49, 472-476
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IONIZING RADIATION AND A SENSE OF PROPORTION.
G. Tievsky (1958)
JAMA 166, 1667-1672
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Leukemia in Hiroshima City Atomic Bomb Survivors.
N. WALD (1958)
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THE DELAYED EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION.
J. V. Neel (1958)
JAMA 166, 908-916
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RADIATION DOSE TO GONADS FROM DIAGNOSTIC X-RAY EXPOSURE.
T. A. Lincoln and E. D. Gupton (1958)
JAMA 166, 233-239
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Magnitude of Biological Hazard from Strontium-90.
H. B. Newcombe (1957)
Science 126, 549-551
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The Genetic Hazards of Nuclear Radiations.
B. Glass (1957)
Science 126, 241-246
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