EPA says a little radiation may be healthy

[BadGimp]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is quietly moving to weaken U.S. radiation regulations, turning to scientific outliers who argue that a bit of radiation damage is actually good for you — like a little bit of sunlight.

The government’s current, decades-old guidance says that any exposure to harmful radiation is a cancer risk. And critics say the proposed change could lead to higher levels of exposure for workers at nuclear installations and oil and gas drilling sites, medical workers doing X-rays and CT scans, people living next to Superfund sites and any members of the public who one day might find themselves exposed to a radiation release.

The Trump administration already has targeted a range of other regulations on toxins and pollutants, including coal power plant emissions and car exhaust, that it sees as costly and burdensome for businesses. Supporters of the EPA’s new proposal argue the government’s current no-tolerance rule for radiation damage forces unnecessary spending for handling exposure in accidents, at nuclear plants, in medical centers and at other sites.

Read more: https://apnews.com/6a573b6b020e453c90ecd5e84aa23f57

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And Ketchup is a Vegetable

Here we go again!

[ck4829]

1. Any time they say X is safe, I want to see them expose themselves to it

I think it sounds reasonable.

[lagomorph777]

11. Yes, I propose we demonstrate this on the EPA administrator.

Send him on a Radioactive National Tour.

Light him up like a candle in every major arena in the country.

[sanatanadharma]

2. Sounds like Art Robinson (Oregon) is in Trump's employ

Art Robinson, oft defeated candidate for Governor of Oregon (thankfully), made the claim that we should be spreading nuclear waste in our yards for health.

[colorado_ufo]

9. Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! I know!

Here in Western Colorado, uranium mill tailings were routinely used in the foundations of houses, in roads, under schools, in sandboxes, etc. Kids used to play in them! The result? A huge increase in leukemia and other cancers.

In the 1980s, a gigantically expensive and inconvenient cleanup was begun. It was worth it, but it was too late for many.

Tell this a-hole to read up on the history of uranium in our country.

[charliea]

17. A perennial Congressional candidate here in Oregon

I agree that thankfully he's never been elected to anything, but I'll point out that he's never run for governor of Oregon. He's been the Republican party state chairman here in Oregon and the Robinsons over the 10 years ( Art or his son ) have run against Congressman Peter Defazio. With big donations from Robert Mercer. Since I live in the district I've gotten to watch this for a long time. Currently Art is running 20 pts behind in this election.

And besides the idea that we should just disperse low level rad waste over the landscape, a couple of years ago he sent out a flier requesting that everyone send him a urine sample. I forgot what for.

I bet he's in line for a new job at the EPA!


#RESIST

[sanatanadharma]

31. Yes that is correct, my old brain misremembers

Robinson kept running against De Fazio not for Governor

I left Oregon after 25 years and am now 6000 miles away in a civilized society

[MissB]

24. I thought he wanted it added to the concrete in house foundations.

Regardless, he’s one of those outliers.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. If the hands on my watch glow because of the Polonium, is that good? nt

[MBS]

4. Good God. n/t

[Solly Mack]

5. Sick fucks

[yonder]

6. I'm still waiting for Bayer/Monsanto to drink that big old glass of Roundup

[irisblue]

7. 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦

Damn. I wasted years in Radiation Biology, Radiation Physics, Medical Dosemetry, learning time distance& shielding rules and teaching future Radiographers. As well as all that $ I spent on containing education.
What.An.Asshole.

[Dave Starsky]

8. Well, look what it did for Spider-Man! n/t

[Anon-C]

13. He's right you know!

[ragemage]

10. So a little radiation is good for you and mercury is fine too

So yesterday it was posted they want to weaken the EPA regulations regarding mercury and now they want to weaken the radiation standards...how long until they say leaded gasoline is fine again? Anyone want to take a bet?
There are some things that should be zero or close to zero tolerance such as mercury exposure or radiation exposure. Profits before people. Corporations are people too my friends!

[truthisfreedom]

12. As long as the administration is willing to be the guinea

pigs.

[catbyte]

14. We could all use a healthy glow--in the dark. 😎

Assholes. When will catsup once again be a vegetable?

[Fullduplexxx]

15. I'll believe it only after you point the radiator at your balls and pull the trigger

And Trees cause pollution

[KPN]

16. Stop saying EPA! This isn't the EPA doing this.

It’s Trump and the crooks and thugs who enable him. It’s the Trump Disaster Team — not the EPA. This is not the EPA as we know it — so MEDIA, please stop saying “The EPA ...”!

[diva77]

28. +1,000,000 Exactly. Headline should read: Corporate tool, Andrew Wheeler, appointed by Dump as

Acting Administrator of the EPA, declares, contrary to facts backed by the majority of scientific experts in this matter, blah blah blah blah

[irisblue]

18. A bit more about where this came from

Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) Tweeted:
The idea that low doses of radiation are good for you is one of the odd hobbyhorses of Robert Mercer, who's claimed that radiation actually made people on the outskirts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki healthier https://t.co/rHEpRX2BGQ

Link to tweet

Ooohh, that's where it came from. I wonder how long it takes the American College of Radiology, The American College of Medical Physics, the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists,( they are the ones who do the math for radiation based oncology treatments) and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists(they are the ones who use xray many times a day) to respond.

[Dave Starsky]

19. Well, that explains a lot.

The problem with wealth and power concentrating to the top is that a lot of that tiny group of people are just fucking crazy.

[marble falls]

20. Can I send my share to cheetolini?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Oh, what a surprise, Steven Milloy is behind this

He has spent decades taking money from corporate interests to pretend risks aren't there - tobacco and fossil fuel industries, and maybe others - and then making up astroturf movements.

The first online forum I joined was a 'skeptics' board, which had links to a Milloy website. It turned out he'd been secretly exercising editorial control - much to the embarrassment of the right wingers who thought they were being honest and winning arguments. Those of us who understood global warming, and weren't fooled during the Iraq War, weren't so surprised. I can remember the "a small amount of radiation strengthens you" argument from 15 years ago, and it wasn't convincing then.

Still, it was there that I found DU (they thought DU was being hysterical about something, but I decided DU was seeing things more clearly), so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. "The EPA proposal would lead to "increases in chemical and radiation exposures

in the workplace, ..." physicist Jan Beyea said.

I will have to see what OSHA regulations say about that.

{Back, in not too long}:

OSHA measures radiation in units of Roentgens, rads, and rems. It provides a conversion from rems to Sieverts:

Introduction to Ionizing Radiation
....

Quantifying Exposure and Dose

Exposure: Roentgen

1 Roentgen (R) = amount of X or gamma radiation that produces ionization resulting in 1 electrostatic unit (esu) of charge in 1 cm3 of dry air at STP. Instruments often measure exposure rate in mR/hr.

Absorbed Dose: rad

1 rad (Roentgen absorbed dose) = absorption of 100 ergs of energy from any radiation in 1 gram of any material; 1 Gray (Gy) = 100 rads = 1 Joule/kg; Exposure to 1 Roentgen approximates 0.9 rad in air.

Dose (in rads) = 0.869(f)(Roentgens) where the f-factor is the ratio of mass energy-absorption coefficient of medium, such as bone, compared to air.

Biologically Equivalent Dose: rem

Rem (Roentgen equivalent man) = dose in rads x QF, where QF = quality factor. 1 Sievert (Sv) = 100 rems.

Exposure Limits

Regulatory Agencies: OSHA, personnel exposures (29 CFR 1910.96, 1910.120); Nuclear Regulatory Commission, (10 CFR 19, 20, and 71); Dept of Transportation, (49 CFR). Most advocate ALARA - As Low As Reasonably Achievable.

OSHA Limits: Whole body limit = 1.25 rem/qtr or 5 rem (50 mSv) per year (approx. 2.5 mrems/hr for all work hours). Hands and feet limit = 18.75 rem/qtr. Skin of whole body limit = 7.5 rem/qtr. Total life accumulation = 5 x (N-18) rem where N = age. Can have 3 rem/qtr if total life accumulation not exceeded. Restricted areas at 200 mrem/hr. Posting at 200 and 100 mrem/hr. Note: New recommendations reduce the 5 rem to 2 rem.

Working Level Month(WLM): Unit of exposure to Radon progeny in uranium mines. 1 Working Level Month (WLM) = exposure to 1 Working Level (1.3 x 105 MeV of alpha energy) for one month; roughly 100 pC/l.

Hazardous Waste Sites: Radiation above background (0.01-0.02 mrem/hr) signifies possible presence which must be monitored. Radiation above 2 mrem/hr indicates potential hazard. Evacuate site until controlled.

[Recursion]

23. Not sure what they mean "like" a little bit of sunlight

Isn't "a little bit of sunlight" an example of "a little bit of radiation"?

[diva77]

25. So I guess all the pro-lifers are opposed to protecting the fetus after all since radiation

adversely affects the fetus at far lower levels than it does adults; also bioaccumulation must be accounted for when setting allowable levels

https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/prenatalphysician.asp

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K&R for exposure

[pecosbob]

26. Anyone here play any of the Fallout games?

Our government is sounding more and more like the govt. in these games...

[Novembrist]

27. The same EPA Scott Pruitt recently resigned from?

His taint lingers on.

[NickB79]

29. Concern over the linear no-threshhold radiation model isn't a new controversy.

The effects of low radiation doses have been questioned for decades, as real-world exposure hasn't behaved as expected if the model was true: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model

In the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, Europe-wide anxieties were formented in pregnant mothers over the perception enforced by the LNT model that their children would be born with a higher rate of mutations.[30] As far afield as the country of Denmark, hundreds of excess induced abortions were performed on the healthy unborn, out of this no-threshold fear.[31] Following the accident however, studies of data sets approaching a million births in the EUROCAT database, divided into "exposed" and control groups were assessed in 1999. As no Chernobyl impacts were detected, the researchers conclude "in retrospect the widespread fear in the population about the possible effects of exposure on the unborn was not justified".[32] Despite studies from Germany and Turkey, the only robust evidence of negative pregnancy outcomes that transpired after the accident were these elective abortion indirect effects, in Greece, Denmark, Italy etc., due to the anxieties created.[33]

[ROB-ROX]

30. HEALTH PHYSICS RULES

I have a degree in radiation protection. I worked at a D.O.E. laboratory, which had radioactive materials, machines which made high powered radiation, and a small 3 M.W. nuclear reactor. I know we all are exposed yearly to 0.3 R.E.M., and a radiation worker is allowed 5.0 R.E.M. per year. Each person has a different tolerance to radiation. It is like we are each tolerant to different amounts of sun light. Those who want to increase the amount of exposure are just pure EVIL. They also do not understand how exposure affects everyone. They are only doing this to make themselves more richer. I think all the evil which has been done by the republicans so far just indicates satan is behind all this evil.....