The Truth About Radiation: Ain’t as Scary as They Say
4 days ago
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I’ve been diggin’ rocks for longer than most folks been worryin’ about ‘em. Uraninite, autunite, thorianite, you name it, I’ve probably slept with dust from it in my beard. And lemme tell ya, if the old Linear No-Threshold model were right, I should’ve been glowing in the dark years ago. See, that fancy LNT (Linear No Threshold) idea says there’s no safe dose of radiation. Zip. None. The story goes: you get hit with a little radiation, you get a little risk. More radiation, more risk. Straight line, all the way down to zero. Simple math. Regulators love it, doctors nod to it, and the public hears it and panics. Problem is, real life ain’t that clean, and it sure as hell ain’t linear. And now… scientists are starting to speak up. Finally!
The Body Ain’t Fragile, Friend
You ever skin your knuckles on a sharp edge and watch it heal? That’s your body fixin’ itself. Well, it turns out your cells can do the same kinda repair job with radiation damage. They patch it up, toss the bad cells out, and sometimes even come back stronger. Scientists call it an adaptive response. I call it common sense. We’re built tough. A few stray gamma rays don’t just knock us over. We’ve been livin’ under cosmic radiation since the dawn of time, it’s in the air, the dirt, the food, and yeah, the rocks we mine. So this idea that any little whiff of radiation is gonna doom you? That’s city talk. The data gets fuzzy down low, below about 100 milligray, you can’t even tell if there’s a risk or just statistical noise. But they still draw their little line down to zero and call it science.
Maybe There’s a Threshold, or Maybe It Helps
Now I ain’t sayin’ to put all your knowledge about radiation safety in general out of the window. But perhaps you can expand it. Some smart folks out there reckon there’s a threshold, a point where the dose is so low it doesn’t matter. Below that, your body shrugs it off. And then there’s the wild idea, radiation hormesis. It’s the thought that a tiny bit of radiation might actually be good for you. Like how lifting weights tears muscle a bit so it can grow back stronger. Small stress, better defense. There’s lab work showing low doses can boost immune systems and trigger DNA repair. Me? I don’t know the Latin for it. But I’ve seen old miners like me live to ninety after a lifetime in “hot” tunnels, while some desk jockey panics about a CT scan. Makes you think.
Healing Rocks and Old Tales
Funny thing, some folks swear by the healing powers of a little radiation. Not the crazy kind that melts Geiger counters, but low-level stuff. There’s places in Austria, Japan and US where people still soak in radon baths for arthritis and aches. Back in the day, they even sold “radium tonics” for vitality. Without claiming that was good or bad, it shows the mindset wasn’t always fear. Now, I’m not sayin’ go drink radioactive water right now but maybe there’s a grain of truth in it, that nature’s own radiation, in small doses, ain’t poison. Maybe it keeps the engine tuned?
The Fear Factor
The big problem, far as I can tell, is fear. Folks hear “radiation” and picture the Chernobyl “elephant’s foot” or glowing zombies. They don’t realize that the world’s been bathed in radiation since the start, it’s natural, it’s everywhere. But this LNT thing makes regulators treat every little spark like a ticking bomb. That fear costs money. Cleanup projects go overboard. Perfectly good medical scans get second-guessed. Nuclear energy gets demonized while coal quietly kills thousands a year. All because the math says no dose is safe. Meanwhile, those of us down in the rock think differently about that. We respect radiation, sure, we don’t lick the samples or sleep on the ore sacks, but we don’t lose sleep over a few microsieverts either.
So What’s the Real Risk?
People certainly have died from acute extreme radiation exposure. (Daemon Core anyone? Look it up!). But there are many pieces of evidence that lower levels of radiation are not as impacting as commonly said. In fact, some say it’s the opposite, some levels might help. What you believe or what you do should be your decision. I believe you should understand how radioactivity works in simple terms and form your own opinion about whether it’s harmful or beneficial and at what level it is, or isn’t. Go online and see the reliable sources, not one but many. Then form your own opinion.
In the End
Maybe one day the scientists will admit what miners have known for generations, that the line ain’t straight. The world’s got thresholds, curves, bends, surprises. Radiation’s no different.
Until then, I’ll keep my counter handy, keep my samples labeled, and keep diggin’. Because for all the fuss, there’s somethin’ kinda beautiful about a rock that glows in the dark.
If you’re interested in getting some beautiful specimens yourself, go visit our shop.
Thanks for reading.
Brandon
If you want to see some great info about this, watch this video from Kyle. It’s one of the best and, frankly to me, exciting videos out there that hopefully will create more conversation, a better understanding and interest in the use of radiation for all good things.
Other references / interesting reads for your information:
The Linear No-Threshold (LNT) Single-Hit Dose Response Model for Cancer Risk Assessment is Inadequate” — E.J. Calabrese (2019)
Calabrese examines the historical roots of the LNT model, questions the quality of the foundational experiments (especially the so-called “single-hit” paradigm), and argues that LNT is based more on convention and policy than a strong scientific basis.
It Is Time to Move Beyond the Linear No-Threshold Theory for Low-Dose Radiation Protection” — M. Doss (2018)
Objectively evaluating and incorporating the latest scientific evidence on LDDR dose–response relationships for application to the regulatory and policy-making process for risk assessment purposes will (1) ensure science remains the foundation for its decision making, (2) reduce the unnecessary burden of costly cleanups, (3) provide a much needed platform to educate the public on the risks or benefits from LDDR radiation exposures, and (4) harmonize the agency’s policies with those recognized by the rest of the radiation scientific community. A continued resistance to conducting a comprehensive review of the latest science regarding LNT-based policies will only diminish the agency’s credibility and influence to protect human health and the environment.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6043938/
Arguing for more research:
Facilitating the End of the Linear No-Threshold Model Era
Embracing radiation hormesis would pave the way for extensive research and application of low-dose radiation in cancer prevention and treatment, potentially resulting in a significant reduction by 20% or more in cancer mortality rates.
Mohan Doss
Journal of Nuclear Medicine August 2024, 65 (8) 1173-1174; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.124.267868
