Low Doses of Radiation: Are they Dangerous?

This book comprises 20 short chapters on the effects of low doses of irradiation on biological systems. The various authors are from a range of Institutes in Russia, and the editor is E B Burlakova from the Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. The book title is intriguing: Low Doses of Radiation: Are they Dangerous? This is a question frequently in the news. The answer is given by Burlakova as a personal opinion in the introduction: yes, they are dangerous, and this is consistent with the findings reviewed by the different authors. The reason given is that low doses do affect, by adaptation or in contrast by apparently increasing, sensitivity to the action of many other endogenous and exogenous damaging factors, and this is particularly important in chronic exposure situations. This, of course, is a very difficult situation in which to disentangle the role of individual factors, but as Burlakova suggests, if we can elucidate some specific effects of low doses, this will help in our understanding of co-operative effects. The effects described in this book are primarily theoretical and experimental studies. Only three articles describe epidemiological series. The chapters include discussion of effects on DNA, chromosomes, membranes, apoptosis, adaptation, non-ionising as well as ionising radiation, immunity, and synergistic interactions with other agents. In addition, there are chapters on the Chernobyl accident including the role of mental stress, and on adaptive responses in children. The chapters are concise, illustrated, and referenced with articles in both Russian and English journals. Nova Science Publishers in New York have done a good job on the presentation, except for the references. Some of the chapters include references in numerical order of appearance, and yet the references are in alphabetical order and do not correspond! Other chapters have a numbered and apparently correct reference list, and yet others use names and dates in the text so that all these various formats are used in the book. This is not the first book from these Russian scientists: in 1995 they published Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe: Human Health. However, in the present translation it is often difficult to really grasp some of the meanings and concepts clearly. References provide avenues to follow in more detail, but, of course, the Russian articles stop many of us going further largely because of the language difficulties (notwithstanding the referencing problems). The book does convey well some of the views of these Russian scientists on the persisting problem of the risks of low doses of radiation, and it provides an insight into their current research directions and thoughts on this issue.