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NINETY-FOURTH CONGRESS

JAMES A. HALEY, FLA., CHAIRMAN

ROY A. TAYLOR, N.C.

HAROLDT JOHNSON, CALIF.
MORRIS K. UDALL, ARIZ.
PHILLIP BURTON, CALIF.

ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER, WIS.
PATSY T. MINK, HAWAII
LLOYD MEEDS, WASH.
ABRAHAM KAZEN, JR., TEX.
ROBERT G. STEPHENS, JR., GA.
JOSEPH P. VIGORITO, PA.
JOHN MELCHER, MONT.
TENO RONCALIO, WYO.
JONATHAN B. BINGHAM, N.Y.
JOHN F. SEIBERLING, OHIO
HAROLD RUNNELS, N. MEX.
ANTONIO BORJA WON PAT, GUAM

RON DE LUGO, V.I.

BOB ECKHARDT, TEX.

GOODLOE E. BYRON, MD.

JAIME BENITEZ, P.R.

JIM SANTINI, NEV.

PAUL E. TSONGAS, MASS.

ALLAN T. HOWE, UTAH

JAMES WEAVER, OREG.

BOB CARR, MICH,

GEORGE MILLER, CALIF.

THEODORE M. (TED) RISENHOOVER,

OKLA

JAMES J. FLORIO, N.J.

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CHARLES CONKLIN

STAFF CHRECTOR LEE MC ELVAIN

GENERAL COUNSEL

MICHAEL C. MARDEN
MINORITY COUNSEL

The Honorable

James A. Haley, Chairman
Committee on Interior

and Insular Affairs

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Transmitted herewith is the transcript of a symposium
organized by the House Environmental Study Conference for
the purpose of discussing the effects upon people of "low
level" ionizing radiation. People are exposed to such
radiation from both artificial and natural sources. of
considerable concern is the extent to which radiation
produced by artificial sources is a hazard to human health.
This question has been a matter of public debate for more
than three decades. As the transcript makes clear, experts
remain in substantial disagreement with regard to the
nature of these risks.

Meetings such as those organized by the Environmental Study Conference help to delineate the areas of agreement and to indicate those aspects of the problem which deserve additional research. While the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment was not involved in the organization of the conference (and views presented therein do not necessarily reflect views of Subcommittee members) I am forwarding the meeting record because I believe it will be exceedingly useful to both experts in the field and to non-experts who wish to obtain a sense of the controversy.

Ancerely,
Точки бывае

Morris K. dall, Chairman
Subcommittee on Energy and

Addition to the Testimony of Dr. Edward S. Martell,
Unresolved Health Effects of Internal Alpha Emitters

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Recommendations Made to the Environmental Study Conference,
Submitted to the Record by Dr. Rosalie Bertell
Letter Submitted to the Record by Dr. Bernard Cohen

133

. 135

INTRODUCTION

On May 4, 1976, a panel including scientists and public health officials presented a wide spectrum of views on the health effects of low-level ionizing radiation during a one-day conference aimed at informing Congressional Members and their staffs on this subject.

The conference was organized by the Environmental Study Conference, at that time composed of a bipartisan group of 165 House Members, and the Environmental Policy Institute, a nonprofit research center. The purpose of the meeting was to provide insights into a question increasingly asked by the public: how harmful to health, if at all, is the low-level ionizing radiation from the nuclear fuel cycle, medical x-rays, and other artifical

sources.

Members of the House and Senate co-sponsoring this conference included Representatives Richard Ottinger, Gilbert Gude, James Jeffords, and John Seiberling, and Senators Gary Hart, Abraham Ribicoff, Edward Brooke, and Jacob Javits.

The following pages contain a transcript of the meeting, edited and reorganized by the Congressional Research Service.

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