Background radiation impacts human longevity and cancer mortality: Reconsidering the linear no-threshold paradigm

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe current linear-no-threshold paradigm assumes that any exposure to ionizing radiation carries some risk, thus every effort should be made to maintain the exposures as low as possible. Here, we examined whether background radiation impacts human longevity and cancer mortality. METHODSOur data covered the entire US population of the 3139 US counties, encompassing over 320 million people. The data on background radiation levels, the average of 5-year age-adjusted cancer mortality rates, and life expectancy for both males and females in each county, was extracted using publicly available tools from official sources, and analyzed with JMP®™ software. RESULTSWe found for the first time that life expectancy, the most integrative index of population health, was approximately 2.5 years longer in people living in areas with a relatively high vs.low background radiation (≥ 180 mrem/year and ≤ 100 mrem/year, respectively; p < 0.005; 95% confidence interval [CI]). This radiation-induced lifespan extension could to a great extent be associated with the decrease in cancer mortality rate observed for several common cancers (lung, pancreas and colon cancers for both genders, and brain and bladder cancers for males only; p < 0.05; 95% CI). CONCLUSIONSExposure to a high background radiation displays clear beneficial health effects in humans.These hormetic effects provide strong evidence for re-considering the linear no-threshold paradigm, at least within the natural range of low-dose radiation.data strongly suggest that low-level radiation is not harmful, and is, in fact, frequently 'apparently beneficial' for human health." 28 13

Is the linear no-threshold (LNT) model relevant for radiotherapy?

“…Actually, several previously published papers had noted such a lower cancer mortality rate in areas with higher background radiation level: this had been reported in some areas in India, Iran, and China and even previously in the US (David et al, 2021). So, those new epidemiological data do suggest that not only very low levels of radiation are not harmful, but that they could even be beneficial, possibly by reducing the cancer mortality rate (?…”

“…However a recent huge study covering the entire US population of the 3139 US counties and encompassing over 320 million people recently brought new data forcing us to reconsidered such a position (David et al, 2021). The authors show that life expectancy was approximately 2.5 years longer in people living in areas with a relatively high versus low background radiation, the difference being very significant (p < 0.005).…”

Effects of Chronic Low-Dose Internal Radiation on Immune-Stimulatory Responses in Mice

“…In fact, exposure to low radiation doses may induce trivial stress factors to enhance protective antioxidant pathways that may contribute to longevity [5,18]. It has recently been determined that background radiation within the natural range of low-dose radiation increases the life expectancy by approximately 2.5 years [92]. In support of this, others have shown that LDR is involved in DNA double-stranded-break repair mechanisms [33,93], which can ultimately delay cell death mechanisms.…”