Relative Biological Effectiveness Rbe Of Fission Neutrons And Gamma Rays At Occupational Exposure Levels PDF Download

Neutron experiments on a highly radiosensitive in vivo system - oocytes in mice - provide new insight into the nature of the radiosensitive targets of these important cells. With the radiobiological literature as background, neutron data from animals and humans are integrated, and the controversial question of radiation protection standards for neutrons is addressed. Oocyte killing in juvenile mice by 0.43-MeV, 252Cf-fission, and 15 MeV neutrons, compared with that by 6°Co gamma rays, yields unusually low neutron RBEs (relative biological effectiveness). At 0.1 rad of 0.43-MeV neutrons the RBE is only 1.8, contrasting greatly with values of 100 or more reported at low-doses for other endpoints. In mice just prior to birth, however, when oocytes are less radiosensitive, the neutron RBE is much higher, similar to values for most other mammalian endpoints. This dramatic change in neutron RBE with mouse age (occurring within 2 to 3 days) can be explained as the result of a shift from a less radiosensitive target (presumably nuclear DNA) to a much more radiosensitive one (probably the oocyte plasma membrane). Using various approaches, a value for the neutron Quality Factor (Q, a radiation protection standard) is estimated as 17 (+-100%), much lower than 100 which has been suggested. With the large uncertainty, 17 is not markedly different from the value of 10 presently in general use.