ATOMIC RADIATION IS MORE HARMFUL TO WOMEN

A woman is at significantly greater risk of suffering and dying from radiation-induced cancer than a man who gets the same dose of ionizing radiation. This is news because data in the report on the biological effects of ionizing radiation published in 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 1 has been under-reported. It is more often acknowledged that children are at higher risk of disease and death from radiation, but it is rarely pointed out that the regulation of radiation and nuclear activity (worldwide) ignores the disproportionately greater harm to both women and children.

The goal of this briefing paper is to help the lay reader understand the data on radiation impacts to women presented in the NAS radiation report. Other researchers indicate that the effects may be even greater than the NAS findings.3 This is because the NAS report covers only radiation doses that are from sources outside the body (gamma and X-rays)--leaving out doses from radioactivity taken inside the body. These internal effects result from contamination inhaled in air, and ingested food and water and confirm that the overall assessment by the NAS is not complete.

Nonetheless, the NAS report is stunning enough: it finds that harm to women (cancer) is 50%
higher than the comparable harm to men from radiation doses that fall within the legal limit to the public over a lifetime. Let’s be clear: radiation kills men--but it kills significantly more women. Both cancer incidence and death are 50% higher for women. Non-cancer health impacts were not included in the analysis.
[link to www.nirs.org]

(PDF; 8 pages)
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