SRP Honorary Fellow and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Radiological Protection,  Professor Richard Wakeford from The University of Manchester’s Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health with a team of scientists led by Professor Angela McLean of the University of Oxford has recently reviewed the evidence of the health risks from low-level ionising radiation. The aim of the research was to better inform policy decisions and show where crucial gaps in knowledge lie. Prof Wakeford said: ‘This was a very big review of the health effects of low-level radiation exposure by a team of international experts from various scientific disciplines. We found the overall risk to human health from low-level exposure to radiation, such as getting a CT scan at the hospital, is very small, particularly when compared with the risks posed by modern life such as obesity, smoking and air pollution.’ Further details of the study and the full paper “A restatement of the natural science evidence base concerning the health effects of low-level ionizing radiation” can be found in the following links:

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/low-level-radiation-health-risks-smaller-than-obesity-researchers-say/

http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/view/2583

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1862/20171070