Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 272, 2002
© 2002 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
Radiation at Home, Outdoors and in the Workplace
VCB Consultant University of Bradford Bradford, Yorkshire BD7 1DP UK
Received 25 October 2001;
Radiation at Home, Outdoors and in the Workplace, Dag Brune et al. (Eds), Scandinavian Science Publisher, Oslo, 2001, Editors ISBN 82-91833-02-8. Price 140 Euros.
This is an ambitious, informative and in some parts controversial book. Its contributors comprise twenty-four (Scandinavian) experts, who each bring their specializations to deal with important questions concerning radiation. Part 1 competently surveys the fundamentals of ionizing radiation, non-ionizing radiation, including lasers, visible light, UV and IR radiation, microwaves, etc., and also reviews the fundamentals of sound and noise. The impact of radiation in terms of health effects are dealt with in subsequent parts of this book. In 540 pages, the contributors provide a fascinating and authoritative account of the sources of radiation in the home, outdoors and in the workplace. Effects, assessment and controls are presented. From my personal perspective of extensive knowledge of ionizing radiation, and to a lesser extent noise, I found the presentations provided me with new insight. The contributors accept that in such areas as microwave and radio frequency, and particularly low-frequency, fields there is need for considerably more research before definitive opinions can be presented and reliable control strategies developed. A useful format is the interspersing of the text with case studies or focused sections for example, ‘Can radio frequency fields cause malformation?’ and ‘Mobile phone use and cancer—epidemiological studies’. Contributions are made on electromagnetic fields in residential areas, radon in buildings and particular problems of radiation in the healthcare sector. Because of the lack of knowledge in certain areas and the multiplicity of regulatory bodies internationally, it is difficult to deal adequately with ‘Rules and regulations’ in the 40 pages allocated. Nevertheless I found the overview to be fair and informative. A tremendous amount of work is evident in the compilation of this section and indeed in the earlier parts of this beautifully produced and informative volume. I applaud the contributors’ efforts in dealing with such a wide range and with sometimes controversial subject areas. This book introduced me to concepts and recent publications that I had not accessed from other sources. Some readers may find the focus on Scandinavian examples and publications restricting and would ask for greater visibility to be given to North American or other developed areas. I believe that this book will be most useful to persons who have some knowledge in the areas of radiation referred to, but who wish to explore the latest information and access the original publications reference therein. The contributors have, in my view, got the balance just about right bearing in mind the enormous scope of their task. Radiation at Home, Outdoors and in the Workplace is a good read but more than that provides new insights into controversial and poorly understood areas, which have enormous potential importance.
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