Two attempts have recently been made to establish a trustworthy comparison of the toxicity of chemical and radiological poisons.
Dr W.P. Dornsife of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection has proposed using a measure of relative toxicity given by the quantity of water in which a hazardous substance¾whether chemically toxic or radioactive¾must be diluted before the water qualifies for the drinking water standards of the EPA.
Dr H. Glubrecht of the Biophysics Institute of the University of Hannover (W.Germany) has calculated the "rad-equivalent" for chemical poisons by comparing the doses that will produce the same effects in the incidence of cancer and genetic mutations.
Both scientists find ludicrous inconsistencies in protecting the public from the same dangers caused by different agents. Glubrecht, for example, reports benzopyrene (a carcinogen contained in coal smoke) concentrations in the German city of Bochum which correspond to 300 times the permissible level of radioactivity.
"The impression is created," he comments, "that a major offensive is being mounted against a mouse whilst a tiger lurks in the background."
[More: W.P. Dornsife, "A perspective of the relative hazard of low-level radioactive waste disposal," Proceedings of the Health Physics Society Symposium, Feb. 11-15, Williamsburg, Va.; H. Glubrecht, "Dose comparisons in the effects of radiation and chemical pollutants," Atomenergie-Kerntechnik (W.Germany), vol.33, series 2, pp. 126-130, 1979 (the paper is in English).]
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Vol. 7, No. 2
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Volume 7 Issue/No.: Vol. 7, No. 2 Date: October 01, 1979 02:47 PM Title: More fundamental than energy
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