tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post3251518178448231402..comments2024-02-23T01:30:06.101-08:00Comments on Early Warning: Some Basic Sanity Checks on the NYT Radioactivity PieceStuart Stanifordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07182839827506265860noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-69572873942670650892011-03-06T20:09:10.670-08:002011-03-06T20:09:10.670-08:00I think Tad Patzek's comments on this story ar...I think Tad Patzek's comments on this story are illuminating.<br /><br />http://patzek-lifeitself.blogspot.com/2011/02/radioactivity-in-water-and-natural-gas.htmlGaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08580497879135994296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-84573601216028852812011-02-28T18:32:21.393-08:002011-02-28T18:32:21.393-08:00??.
-- Item #9 is legible. It was published in one...??.<br />-- Item #9 is legible. It was published in one of the two major peer reviewed radiology journals at my suggestion. There was also a rebuttal by a prominent radiologist. See also <br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Cohen_%28physicist%29<br />Dr. Cohen studied radon for decades. He went to great effort to answer critics. I am uncertain as to his current activity. He is about 86 years old.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13071103776144941751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-49445217880200645272011-02-28T17:10:39.397-08:002011-02-28T17:10:39.397-08:00The pitt site links look like a wordperfect docume...The pitt site links look like a wordperfect documents that were posted without conversion to html .. interesting, but almost impossible to read.<br /><br />Radon in Eagle, Colorado new home basements averaged 400 pc/l when tested a few years ago... lots of $$ made by people selling little fans :)Mr. Sunshinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16137274372934160799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-70461395178716262292011-02-28T15:25:42.953-08:002011-02-28T15:25:42.953-08:00Bernard Cohen on radon and other matters
http://w...Bernard Cohen on radon and other matters<br /><br />http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13071103776144941751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-66281571467837308832011-02-28T15:20:30.127-08:002011-02-28T15:20:30.127-08:00Ahhh .. radon. A real problem here in Colorado...Ahhh .. radon. A real problem here in Colorado's gas country, too ... and as I recall, 4 picocuries/liter is the federal 'safe' limit. Which, per my doctor, is about the same as smoking a half a pack of cigarettes per day as far as long term cancer risks go. Probably should check my well, too.Mr. Sunshinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16137274372934160799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-86170853447561023272011-02-28T12:18:40.735-08:002011-02-28T12:18:40.735-08:00p-roc's mom - wow, I hadn't thought of tha...p-roc's mom - wow, I hadn't thought of that possibility. We live on that same geology (we are near the northern edge of the Marcellus also on the Allegheny plateau) and it's standard to get radon tests in houses here (ours was clear), but it hadn't occurred to me to test the well water. Maybe I should.Stuart Stanifordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07182839827506265860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-48427203538304305532011-02-28T11:25:44.290-08:002011-02-28T11:25:44.290-08:00Well, that explains why my grandfather's well ...Well, that explains why my grandfather's well water was radioactive. He lived out in the countryside, by Pequea, PA, near the Susquehanna, and all his water came from his well. He didn't know his well water was radioactive until my uncle made himself some iced tea with the well water and tried to take it to work with him - at the Peach Bottom nuclear plant, where the standard radiation check at the front door flagged him. <br /><br />My uncle didn't seem too worried about it, so I assume it wasn't a terribly high level, and my grandfather passed away a while ago, so it's not an issue for him anymore, but it does raise the issue of how many other people out in rural PA are drinking radioactive water without knowing it.Auntie Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12818566250264650386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-89995687126208061622011-02-27T21:57:14.534-08:002011-02-27T21:57:14.534-08:00Of concern is the NYT report that water treatment ...Of concern is the NYT report that water treatment plants do not test for the level of radioactivity on the incoming waste water and also do not test the outgoing "treated" water stream.<br /><br />Not sure how you can draw conclusions for or against if there is inadequate data collection in the first place. Given the potential for significant impacts the monitoring inadequacy is surprising.BOPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08397257436471166836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-62790554766654363562011-02-27T19:52:20.364-08:002011-02-27T19:52:20.364-08:00Sorry, I missed that. My x-ray technician/radiolog...Sorry, I missed that. My x-ray technician/radiologist career began in 1948 and lasted over 50 years. Among other things it included relatively primitive fluroscopy and inserting radium needles with a needle holder. I discovered T D Luckey around 1981 and developed an ongoing interest in radiation hormesis and the subsequent controversies, The data relevant to millirad and single digit rad exposures (old timers often prefer rads over grays) is buried in a sea of noise. However I believe that at low levels there is more evidence for hormesis than there is for the linear no-threshold model. This of course is also relevant to radiation produced by nuclear power and burning coal. Years ago there was an amusing controversy over the use of microrad vs millirads vs rads The claim was that some writers preferred big numbers to frighten the uninitiated.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13071103776144941751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-75611899601025177252011-02-27T17:42:55.709-08:002011-02-27T17:42:55.709-08:00Lars - I guess you're right, it's not an S...Lars - I guess you're right, it's not an SI unit.<br /><br />Robert: Pico is 10^-12, which is one trillionth, as I said.Stuart Stanifordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07182839827506265860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-85798004259140679882011-02-27T14:51:50.448-08:002011-02-27T14:51:50.448-08:00and a pico (p) is 0.000000000001and a pico (p) is 0.000000000001Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13071103776144941751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-52024544997385124692011-02-27T14:23:13.946-08:002011-02-27T14:23:13.946-08:00“For background here, a Curie is the official inte...“For background here, a Curie is the official international unit for radioactivity, measured at 37 billion decays of individual atoms per second.”<br /><br />The SI unit for radioactivity is Becquerel.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_base_unitsLars-Eric Bjerkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12632949799117185675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-34210672259444554812011-02-27T08:36:00.348-08:002011-02-27T08:36:00.348-08:00Luckily the Pennsylvania Republica administration ...Luckily the Pennsylvania Republica administration has the solution for this: suspend environmental regulations, stop monitoring.<br /><br />If you can't see it, it can't harm you.<br /><br />Contemporary conservative thinking is tantamount to magic.<br /><br />http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11056/1127950-113.stm#ixzz1F1458whBHypnoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01409179274970587232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-49286260636661893822011-02-27T08:16:59.671-08:002011-02-27T08:16:59.671-08:00Stuart: I would concentrate on low flow periods in...Stuart: I would concentrate on low flow periods in this analysis. During low flows and with higher sediment loads, currents are non-turbulent and mixing is less. Thus, slugs of the waste water will travel without begin diluted. I heard a talk about this a few years ago at UCD. This is why hydrologists and env. health experts get really nervous with "dilution is the solution" for rivers.Fixed Carbonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06321707907871138659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235419263414453422.post-66535451152979372572011-02-27T07:58:26.397-08:002011-02-27T07:58:26.397-08:00it seems to me that it's a random sample. They...it seems to me that it's a random sample. They have measured 200. They couldn't have had any idea about which are the worst 200 prior of measuring them.Csiki Attila-Józsefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16263200006777516849noreply@blogger.com