The Atomic Bomb and Radiation Essay -- Weapons Health Science Papers

The Atomic Bomb and Radiation Radiation as a carcinogen was first established in December 1895 after Roentgen’s discovery of X-rays. In 1902, the first radiation induced cancer was reported emerging from an ulcerated area of the skin. By 1911, a large number of these such skin cancers were reported as well as the first report of leukemia occurring in five radiation workers (Little 2000). Following these discoveries, large-scale tumor induction studies were carried out in animal models over the following 30 years. These studies elucidated many of the general characteristics of radiation carcinogenesis. With the explosion of the atom bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, scientists were given the opportunity to examine the effects of radiation in a natural experiment that effected a broad range of subjects. The population of atomic bomb survivors represents a wide range of ages as well as both sexes, a group comparable to that of the general population. The Japanese atomic bomb survivor Life Span Study (LSS) cohort is the principal source of data used to estimate the risks of radiation-related cancer (Little et al 1999). In 1978, the original dose estimates were reassessed and now appear in a complete publication called the DS86-Dosimetry System 1986 ((Klaassen). The four main types of radiation are alpha particles, beta particles and positrons, gamma rays and x-rays. These atoms can decay through the loss of a positively or negatively charged electron. The release of excess energy from the nucleus, usually after an alpha, beta or positron transition results in gamma radiation. X-ray radiation is released whenever an inner-shell orbital electron is removed and a rearrangement of the remaining atomic electrons takes plac... ...of Radiation on Incidence of Primary Liver Cancer among Atomic Bomb Survivors Radiation Research 1999 152:364-373 Kai, m., Luebeck, E.G., Moolgavkar, S.H. Analysis of the Incidence of Solid Cancer among Atomic Bomb Survivors Using a Two-Stage Model of Carcinogenesis Radiation Research 1997 148:348-358 Klaassen, Cutris D. Casarett & Doull’s Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons Fifth Edition 1999 Little, J.B. Radiation carcinogenesis Carcinogenesis 21(3):397 Little, M.P., Muirhead, C.R., Haylock, R.G.E., Thomas, J.M. Relative Risks of radiation-associated cancer: comparison of second cancer in therapeutically irradiated populations with the Japanese atomic bomb survivors Radiat Environ Biophys 1999 38:267-283 Pierce, D.A., Mendelsohn, M.L. A Model for Radiation-Related Cancer Suggested by Atomic Bomb Survivor Data Radiation Research 1999 152:642-654