Page 401 - 2014 Printable Abstract Book
P. 401
(SNF01) Integrating Radiation Biology and Radiation Epidemiology to Develop a Rational Radiation
Risk Policy. William F. Morgan, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Reconciling the data from radiation biology to provide a mechanism to understand the studies of
individuals exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation and the subsequent epidemiological data will
remain a challenge in low dose radiation research in the future. The current radiation risk policies are
largely based on epidemiological data from the A-bomb survivors in Japan. This largely homogeneous
population existing in a post-war environment is currently not likely to be representative of the
heterogeneous population of the USA, or indeed the world. Radiation biology research has provided many
logical explanations for the effects of low doses of radiation exposure. MELODI, the US Low Dose Radiation
Research Program, and the US NCRP are trying to integrate these - in many instances resulting in
disparaging conclusions. For example, the dose rate effectiveness factor (DREF). A big debate in Europe,
in many ways ignores 70 plus years if research in radiation biology by suggesting that the DREF should not
be greater than unity. ICRP has established a committee to investigate this. In this pre-sentation I will
focus on the US strategy for investigating low dose radiation effects and its potential impact on radiation
risk assessment. In addition, I will summarize the goals of the ICRP task group that will investigate this.
The emphasis will be on a path forward and how this integrates with the strong programs within the EU,
Japan, Korea and India, and how we can best integrate our collective results.
This perspective was supported by Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, under Contract
No. DE- AC05-76RL0 1830 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Biological and
Environmental Research (OBER) Low Dose Radiation Science Program. It does not necessarily reflect the
views of these organizations.
(SNF02) Molecular epidemiology in radiation research: review of potential biomarkers and study
requirements. Elisabeth Cardis and Eileen Pernot, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology,
Barcelona, Spain
Ionizing radiation has long been known to induce health effects in humans at moderate to high
doses, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cataracts and cognitive effects. At low doses and dose-
rates (below 100 mSv and/or 0.1 mSv min-1), however the magnitude of health risks remains
controversial. Experimental studies in vivo and in vitro provide increasingly important information about
mechanisms at low doses but direct human evidence is limited. Integration of epidemiological and
biological research, through molecular epidemiological studies incorporating biomarkers and bioassays,
has the potential to provide significant insights into health risks following low doses and dose rates.
A number of biomarkers have been used to investigate exposure, effects and susceptibility to ionizing
radiation, albeit often at higher doses and dose rates. This review summarises the multidisciplinary work
undertaken in the framework of the European project DoReMi (Low Dose Research towards
Multidisciplinary Integration) to identify the most appropriate biomarkers for use in population studies.
We discuss the relevance of different biomarkers for assessing the effects of low dose ionizing radiation
exposure. We review temporal aspects of different classes of biomarkers, an issue of importance in the
design of molecular epidemiological studies in which years and often decades may be needed for a
radiation induced effect to be manifest. The integration of biology with epidemiology requires careful
planning and enhanced discussions between the epidemiology, biology and dosimetry communities to
determine the most important questions to be addressed and the most suitable population and study
Risk Policy. William F. Morgan, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
Reconciling the data from radiation biology to provide a mechanism to understand the studies of
individuals exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation and the subsequent epidemiological data will
remain a challenge in low dose radiation research in the future. The current radiation risk policies are
largely based on epidemiological data from the A-bomb survivors in Japan. This largely homogeneous
population existing in a post-war environment is currently not likely to be representative of the
heterogeneous population of the USA, or indeed the world. Radiation biology research has provided many
logical explanations for the effects of low doses of radiation exposure. MELODI, the US Low Dose Radiation
Research Program, and the US NCRP are trying to integrate these - in many instances resulting in
disparaging conclusions. For example, the dose rate effectiveness factor (DREF). A big debate in Europe,
in many ways ignores 70 plus years if research in radiation biology by suggesting that the DREF should not
be greater than unity. ICRP has established a committee to investigate this. In this pre-sentation I will
focus on the US strategy for investigating low dose radiation effects and its potential impact on radiation
risk assessment. In addition, I will summarize the goals of the ICRP task group that will investigate this.
The emphasis will be on a path forward and how this integrates with the strong programs within the EU,
Japan, Korea and India, and how we can best integrate our collective results.
This perspective was supported by Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, under Contract
No. DE- AC05-76RL0 1830 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Biological and
Environmental Research (OBER) Low Dose Radiation Science Program. It does not necessarily reflect the
views of these organizations.
(SNF02) Molecular epidemiology in radiation research: review of potential biomarkers and study
requirements. Elisabeth Cardis and Eileen Pernot, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology,
Barcelona, Spain
Ionizing radiation has long been known to induce health effects in humans at moderate to high
doses, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cataracts and cognitive effects. At low doses and dose-
rates (below 100 mSv and/or 0.1 mSv min-1), however the magnitude of health risks remains
controversial. Experimental studies in vivo and in vitro provide increasingly important information about
mechanisms at low doses but direct human evidence is limited. Integration of epidemiological and
biological research, through molecular epidemiological studies incorporating biomarkers and bioassays,
has the potential to provide significant insights into health risks following low doses and dose rates.
A number of biomarkers have been used to investigate exposure, effects and susceptibility to ionizing
radiation, albeit often at higher doses and dose rates. This review summarises the multidisciplinary work
undertaken in the framework of the European project DoReMi (Low Dose Research towards
Multidisciplinary Integration) to identify the most appropriate biomarkers for use in population studies.
We discuss the relevance of different biomarkers for assessing the effects of low dose ionizing radiation
exposure. We review temporal aspects of different classes of biomarkers, an issue of importance in the
design of molecular epidemiological studies in which years and often decades may be needed for a
radiation induced effect to be manifest. The integration of biology with epidemiology requires careful
planning and enhanced discussions between the epidemiology, biology and dosimetry communities to
determine the most important questions to be addressed and the most suitable population and study
