The human cancer in high natural background radiation areas

Abstract

The studies of health effects in human populations living in places with high levels of natural background radiation are of crucial importance for understanding the impact of low doses of ionising radiation. The paper reviews some exemplary literature that addresses the likelihood of the radiation-induced cancer in aforementioned regions. It is shown that using Bayesian analysis one can arrive at an essentially different conclusion concerning dose-effect dependence from the one which could be guessed from first glance. The general conclusion is that cancers do not correlate with elevated radiation in regions with high natural background radiation.