Radon or Medical Xray as the largest source of Annual Effective Radiation

[fettucine]

For the longest time I thought the answer to the question (largest contributor to the annual effective radiation dose to the general public) was Radon. In the 2009 ASTRO Radiobio questions though, they state that Medical Xray has overtaken Radon (Chap 29 q8 I think). Certainly disagrees with Hall, I have yet to see what Steel's new book says about it. For the test-takers though, what should the answer be for ABR - any opinions?

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[medgator]

For the longest time I thought the answer to the question (largest contributor to the annual effective radiation dose to the general public) was Radon. In the 2009 ASTRO Radiobio questions though, they state that Medical Xray has overtaken Radon (Chap 29 q8 I think). Certainly disagrees with Hall, I have yet to see what Steel's new book says about it. For the test-takers though, what should the answer be for ABR - any opinions?

I think there is some lag time before we have to know that, right? For the past 10 years of exams, Radon has always been the answer.

 

[deleted4401]

I caught that, too, and I'm sure everyone studying did, as well.

I don't think lag time is appropriate - if dx x-rays is now the top cause, then that's what the answer is - it's fact based. Did they reference the answer (I forgot if they did)?

S

 

[medgator]

I caught that, too, and I'm sure everyone studying did, as well.

I don't think lag time is appropriate - if dx x-rays is now the top cause, then that's what the answer is - it's fact based. Did they reference the answer (I forgot if they did)?

S

Yeah they did reference it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
PMID: 17467608
PMID: 18566177

I guess I'll put Dx x-rays down, but part of me thinks they are going to wait a couple of years before they put that on the test...

 

[fettucine]

I caught that, too, and I'm sure everyone studying did, as well.

I don't think lag time is appropriate - if dx x-rays is now the top cause, then that's what the answer is - it's fact based. Did they reference the answer (I forgot if they did)?

S

I think you are right. It is better for once to go with the crowd if this question is asked. If most test takers (assuming all did ASTRO 2009 questions) answer it the same away - either it will be the correct answer or thrown out due to aberrant "difficulty" level. My reasoning may be flawed, but there are only 100 questions this time with probably a steep curve(almost sounds radio-biologish) - each question matters.

cheers. good luck.