Oxford childhood study

The current health risks associated with exposure to low-dose radiation are extrapolated from high-dose data taken from the Life Span Study of the Japanese atomic bomb survivors. Currently, a linear no threshold extrapolation is recommended. The numerous technical reports and scientific papers about the Japanese A-bomb survivors were widely interpreted as showing that the effects of occupational exposures to radiation would be too small to detect in epidemiological studies. However, questions about the reliability of the A-bomb results were presented by Stewart and Kneale [2]. Their Oxford Childhood Study observed that children whose in utero exposures were as little as 10 to 20 mSv had 40% more childhood leukemias than those who were not exposed. No similar effects are reported in the A-bomb data. Of course, the finding of no effect is not a compelling argument for or against a safe dose. 

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