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PubMed2003

Exploring technical and cultural appeals in strategic risk communication: the Fernald radium case.

Risk disputes are often characterized by tensions between technical and cultural understandings of risk and by communication practices that reflect those differing perspectives. This study considers how participants in risk debates draw upon and combine aspects of technical and cultural rationality as broad orientations to risk in expressing their views and formulating persuasive appeals during risk debates. Rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke's (1984) concept of frames of acceptance is used to analyze a case study involving competing priorities for radium stored at the Fernald site, a former Department of Energy nuclear weapons facility. A rhetorical analysis is conducted using the transcript from a 1995 public meeting during which local residents and a nuclear medicine expert discussed priorities of Fernald site cleanup versus providing radium stored on site for promising cancer research. Two tensions are identified that fostered disagreement among discussants: the first a tension between a local or global context for the controversy and the second a tension between competing definitions of public participation for this issue. This study analyzes the rhetorical strategies by which participants in the Fernald radium debate articulated these tensions and argues that technical and cultural rationality (Plough & Krimsky, 1987) acted as sources of rhetorical invention influencing participants' individual frames of acceptance and the ways they defined and interpreted the situation and crafted persuasive appeals.

Communication↗
PubMed1976

Time, dose and volume factors in interstitial Radium implants of carcinoma of the oral tongue.

In a retrospective computer dosimetry analysis of 58 patients with carcinoma of the oral tongue treated with interstitial radium implants alone or in combination with external irradiation, dose and volume appear to be the most important factors in both local control and the incidence of necrosis; in the dose rate range commonly used in clinical interstitial radiotherapy, dose rate has no significant effect. The optimal minimum tumor doses for local control vary with the size of the primary lesion: 6,000 rads for T1 lesions and 6,500 rads for T2 lesions treated with interstitial radium implants alone and 7,500 rads for lesions treated with interstitial radium implants in combination with external irradiation. For lesions treated with implants plus external irradiation, greater local control was achieved when most of the dose was delivered through the interstitial implants. For a given volume, the incidence of necrosis was directly proportional to the degree of overdosage; for a given dose, the incidence of necrosis was directly proportional to the volume receiving the dose.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMed1996

Nasopharyngeal radium irradiation: fundamental considerations.

This article discusses the potential carcinogenic effects of radiation exposure from nasopharyngeal radium irradiation exposure and issues to consider when deciding whether to recommend screening for asymptomatic patients who have been treated by nasopharyngeal radium irradiation. The radiation exposure from the radium is primarily the result of gamma-rays, which are very penetrating. beta-Particles would affect only the tissues located within 1 cm of the eustachian tube orifice. On the basis of a quantitative risk assessment, the lifetime risk of brain cancer developing was estimated to be approximately 3 per 1000 persons, and the lifetime risk of a fatal cancer 5.6 per 1000 persons. When the medical benefits of screening asymptomatic patients are assessed, several factors, including the medical risks and benefits and cost-effectiveness of follow-up, should be considered.

Eustachian Tube↗
PubMed1996

Epidemiologic issues related to nasopharyngeal radium exposures.

A number of topics are discussed related to the potential for and pitfalls in undertaking epidemiologic studies of the late effects of nasopharyngeal radium irradiation. The available evidence indicates that linear extrapolation of risk estimates from high-dose studies is a reasonable basis for estimating risk from radium exposure or other situations in which the radiation exposures were fairly low and fractionated. Epidemiologic study of populations given nasopharyngeal radium irradiation is worthwhile scientifically if several criteria can be met. It is very important that any such study has adequate statistical power, which is a function of the doses to the organs of interest and the radiation risk coefficients for those organs, as well as the available sample size. If the organ doses are low, a prohibitively large sample size would be required. Other problems with low-dose studies include the likelihood of false-positive results when a number of health end points are evaluated and the impact of dose uncertainties, small biases, and confounding factors that make the interpretation uncertain. Cluster studies or studies of self-selected cohorts of irradiated patients are not recommended because of the potential for severe bias with such study designs. The ability to define subgroups of the population who have heightened genetic susceptibility may become a reality in the next few years as genes conferring susceptibility to brain cancers or other head and neck tumors are identified; this scientific advance would have the potential to alter greatly the prospects and approaches of epidemiologic studies.

Humans↗
PubMed1980

A simple function describing the absorption in platinum for dose-rate calculations around radium applicators.

The diminution of exposure rate from radium gamma radiation by filtration through platinum can be described very accurately by gamma 0/(1 + mu0d) for wall thickness d from 0.2 mm to 4.0 mm (gamma 0 = 6.356 x 10(-5) A m2/kg2 or 8.869 R cm2 h-1 mg-1; mu0 = 1.501 cm-1). This function fits generally accepted data to within experimental error, to an accuracy not achieved by any single exponential factor. The expression is derived theoretically from a simple approximation to the spectral distribution of radium gamma radiation. With this type of transmission function, the expression for the exposure rate around linear radium sources in platinum tubes (generalized Sievert integral) is readily integrated in terms of elementary functions. Used in place of the Sievert integral in calculations of dose distributions, this new fomulation makes possible straightforward numerical evaluation and avoids the storage of tabulated values in computer programmes.

Absorption↗
PubMed2004

Two-mutation models for bone cancer due to radium, strontium and plutonium.

Data from beagle experiments and radium dial painters were used to derive two-mutation carcinogenesis models for bone cancer induced by the bone-seeking radionuclides radium, strontium and plutonium. For all data, the model fits indicate that at low doses both mutation rates depend linearly and equally strongly on dose rate. For the high-LET alpha-particle emitters, a cell killing term reduces the second mutation rate at high dose rates. In all cases, the combined effect of both mutation rates is a linear-quadratic dose-effect relationship for cancer at low doses. This behavior may lead to experimental data that could be mistaken as showing a threshold below which no cancers are induced. Derived parameters such as toxicity ratios and tumor growth times compare well with values reported in the literature. Furthermore, results for plutonium indicate that rapid burial of the nuclide in the growing bones of juvenile beagles leads to a significant reduction of its toxicity, as was suggested previously. The results for radium in beagles compare well with those for humans and suggest that the models derived for strontium and plutonium in beagles may be translated to humans. The significant model parameters for the accurate animal data could then also be used to fit human epidemiological data.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

An account of the radium collar and the Finzi Harmer implant.

Dr. J. G. Stewart of the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute in Manchester gave an anecdotal account of two methods which were previously used to radiate laryngeal carcinomata and neck nodes. Both techniques have been superseded by newer irradiation techniques, but in view of their considerable success and historical interest, they are included here. The first paper concerns the radium collar which was used for the treatment of late cases of laryngeal carcinoma, and in particular for cases with neck nodes. The second is a brief account of the Finzi Harmer radium needle implant technique, which was at one time widely used.

England↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health risks from radium in workplaces: an unfinished story.

The classic health effects of occupational exposure to radium include osteosarcomas and fibrosarcomas of bone, carcinomas of paranasal sinuses and mastoid air cells, and microscopically and radiographically evident lesions of bone, along with fractures in highly exposed individuals. Among probable effects are breast cancer and acceleration of cataracts. Thyroid carcinoma is a possible high-dose effect. Leukemia is likely related to employment in the radium industry. Multiple myeloma and excess lung cancer may have resulted from high gamma radiation and radon exposures rather than from internal radium. At high doses, impairment of fertility has occurred. Further investigations of effects on the cardiovascular system and hearing, and on fracture-related disability very late in life, are needed.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1976

[Vaginal applicator combination for radium therapy of advanced vaginal and cervix carcinomas].

A vaginal applicator combination for intracavitary radium therapy in cancers of the female genitals was developed. By means of several stages which may be combined moreover with tube filters, different combinations and different radium quantities are applicable which can be adjusted to the results of medical examination using symmetric or asymmetric radium sources. The loading of the applicator combination is executed by straight genuine tube filters which were fixed by weld.

Female↗
PubMed1987

Influence of preoperative intracavitary high (Co60, Cathetron) and low dose-rate (radium) irradiation on surgical difficulties and postsurgical morbidity in patients with uterine carcinoma.

A study was made to determine whether high dose-rate afterloaded Co60 (Cathetron) can be safely used in preoperative radiotherapy for patients with St. I-II cervical or endometrial cancer without an increase in surgical difficulties or postsurgical morbidity when compared with conventional radium therapy. Seventy-five patients with cervical cancer St. Ia-IIb were operated on radically two to three weeks after preoperative intracavitary radiotherapy of which 31 had been treated with the Cathetron and 44 with radium. Furthermore, 144 patients with endometrial cancer St. I-II were also operated on, of which 49 had received Cathetron and 95 radium treatment. No statistical differences were found between the two treatment groups in the duration of the operations, blood loss, or the frequency of early or late postoperative complications.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1986

[Side effects of postoperative irradiation of uterine cancer with high dose rate iridium and low dose rate radium].

A report is given about reversible and irreversible complications following postoperative irradiation in cases of endometrial carcinoma. Intravaginal brachytherapy was performed. In advanced cases or in cases with poor prognosis (tumor grading) percutaneous irradiation was added (Co60). In 156 cases low-dose-rate irradiation (Ra226) and in 143 cases high-dose-rate irradiation (Ir192) was applied intravaginally. Reversible complications (cystitis, proctitis) could be observed following Radium in 7%, following Iridium in 14%. Irreversible complications (fistulas, stenoses): 1.9% following Radium and 3.5% following Iridium. When high-dose-rate irradiation was combined with percutaneous Co60 therapy, reversible complications occurred in 22.8%. After changing the Iridium-therapy scheme (reduction of dose from 10 to 7 Gy and irradiation only of the upper two thirds of the vagina) complications only could be observed in the same level as in Radium-therapy. High-dose-rate irradiation does not need hospitalization of the patients.

Brachytherapy↗
PubMed1998

Studies of U.S. radium dial workers: an epidemiological classic.

The tragic history of the exposure during the second and third decades of this century in the United States of radium dial workers, patients and members of the public to ionizing radiation from internally deposited isotopes of radium is well documented. Recognition of abnormal health outcomes among female dial workers and determination of a causal association between these outcomes among the workers and their exposure to radium leading to the development of protection standards is a classic example of an epidemiological process whereby knowledge and understanding of "the distribution and determinants of disease" evolve. Health effects studies involving U.S. female dial workers began in the early 1920s and continued into the present decade. These studies are discussed in the context of the epidemiological process whereby cause-effect relationships may be postulated, evaluated and refined to the benefit of workers and the general public.

Anemia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Standards of radium-226: from Marie Curie to the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology.

In the early part of the 20th century, the pioneers of radioactivity research, led by Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford and Stefan Meyer, formed a Commission internationale des étalons de radium. The Commission made arrangements for the preparation and intercomparisons of the international standards of radium, which were identified as the Paris standard and the Vienna standard. Otto Hönigschmid from Vienna prepared a first set of international secondary standards in 1912 and a second set in 1934. In both instances, these secondary standards were compared by gamma-ray measurements with the Paris and Vienna standards. The usage of these international standards of radium in the 20th century is described.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1964

RADIUM-226 AND POLONIUM-210 IN LEAF TOBACCO AND TOBACCO SOIL.

Contents of radium-226 and polonium-210 in leaf tobacco and tobacco-growing soils vary with the source. The differences may result from production locality, culture, and curing. The polonium seems to be not entirely derived from the radium; plants probably take it up from the soil or air.

Florida↗
PubMed1982

A new method for treating carcinomatous biliary obstruction with intracatheter radium.

We describe a new method for relieving biliary obstruction due to malignant solid tumors. The method consists of placement of radium needles in a Ring biliary drainage catheter for three days. After removing the radium needles, the catheter is left in place to allow for repair of irradiated tissues, then it is removed. The object is to leave the patient with a patent biliary tree without a biliary drainage prosthesis. The clinical course of six patients treated by this method is described, and the autopsy findings in three cases are outlined. Three patients died with a serum total bilirubin ranging from 1--4.5 mg/100 ml, two to three months after removing the drainage catheter. Two patients died before the bile drainage catheter could be removed. One patient is alive with a bile drainage catheter in place. Possible modifications in technique and catheters are being considered.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

The women radium dial painters as experimental subjects (1920-1990) or what counts as human experimentation.

The case of women radium dial painters - women who tipped their brushes while painting the dials of watches and instruments with radioactive paint - has been extensively discussed in the medical and historical literature. Their painful and abhorrent deaths have occupied the interest of physicians, lawyers, politicians, military agencies, and the public. Hardly any discussion has concerned, however, the use of those women as experimental subjects in a number of epidemiological studies that took place from 1920 to 1990. This article addresses the neglected issue of human experimentation in relation to the radium dial painters. Although women's medical examinations have been classified as simple, routine measurements of radiation burden on the body and presented as a great offer to humanity, for more than fifty years those women had been repeatedly used as experimental subjects without proper consent. I argue that through this case it becomes obvious that the issue of defining what counts as human experimentation shifts from an epistemological to a serious ethical and political question, concerning the making of scientific knowledge while issues of gender related to this process are also discussed.

Female↗
PubMed2006

Uranium, radium and radon measurements in the environs of Nurpur area, Himachal Himalayas, India.

LR-115 plastic track detectors have been used for the measurement of radon exhalation rate and radium concentration in soil and rock samples from Nurpur and its adjoining areas of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Uranium concentration is also determined in these samples using fission track technique. The work is undertaken to explore the possibility of uranium prospection and health risk assessments due to uranium and radium in the study area. A positive correlation has been observed between uranium and radon exhalation rate in soil and rocks.

India↗
PubMed1978

Stage IB carcinoma of the cervix, the Norwegian Radium Hospital, 1968-1970: results of treatment and major complications. I. Lymphedema.

Different methods of treatment have been debated over the years for Stage IB carcinoma of the cervix, especially in view of the results and complications. We have reviewed the experience of the Norwegian Radium Hospital for carcinoma of the cervix, Stage IB, for the years 1968, 1969, and 1970; most of the patients receive preoperative intrauterine and intravaginal radium, followed by radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy; if the nodes are involved, they also receive external pelvic irradiation. During this period, 437 patients had Stage IB; the 5 year survival was 80.2% (not corrected). We focused our attention on lymphedema following such a method of treatment; of 402 patients operated upon, 23.4% developed lymphedema ranging from mild to moderate to severe; 20 patients (5%) had severe lymphedema; factors involved are analyzed.

Adenocarcinoma↗