What are the chances of developing cancer from low doses of radiation?
The prevailing assumption is that any dose of radiation, no matter how small, involves a possibility of risk to human health. However there is no scientific evidence of risk at doses below about 50 millisieverts in a short time or about 100 millisieverts per year. At lower doses and dose rates, up to at least 10 millisieverts per year, the evidence suggests that beneficial effects are as likely as adverse ones. Higher accumulated doses of radiation might produce a cancer which would only be observed several – up to twenty – years after the radiation exposure. This delay makes it impossible to say with any certainty which of many possible agents were the cause of a particular cancer. In western countries, about a quarter of people die from cancers, with smoking, dietary factors, genetic factors and strong sunlight being among the main causes. Radiation is a weak carcinogen, but undue exposure could certainly increase health risks. The body has defence mechanisms against damage induced b
