Routine x-rays can save lives – but be aware of the dangers
Senator Jenny Oropeza
August 23, 2005
Our treatments may be killing us. Consider the following:
In the United States alone, one in three women and one in two men will suffer from cancer at some time during their lifetime.
In California each year, about 22,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and another 4,000 residents will be diagnosed with brain tumors — such as the one that killed my long-time friend and fellow Assemblymember Mike Gordon of El Segundo.
Gordon, 47 and the father of four, put up a valiant fight until late June.
Sadly, brain tumors are the leading cause of tumor-related deaths in children younger than age 20. Furthermore, breast cancer rates have tripled over the past 50 years, and the disease now is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide.
To help fight this trend, and after undergoing surgery myself for a malignant tumor late last year, in January I introduced a three-bill package to prevent cancer, including Assembly Bill 929. In February, the U.S. Department of Health National Toxicology Program classified x-rays and gamma rays as human carcinogens.
In late June, the National Academy of Sciences released a five-year study that concluded that low doses of radiation pose a risk for cancer.
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005, the state Senate, on a bipartisan vote, approved AB 929 to reduce unnecessary exposure to routine medical x-rays. This measure returns to the Assembly for concurrence of amendments, but I am hopeful it will soon be on its way to the governor.
Among the reasons why: The National Academy’s National Research Council develops the most up-to-date and comprehensive risk estimates for cancer and other health effects from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation. The report clearly supports previously reported risk estimates for solid cancer and leukemia.
I applaud this panel’s rejection of longstanding false claims that there is a threshold of low-level radiation where exposure is not harmful.
The incidence rates of cancer, especially breast and brain cancer are increasing at alarming rates. Exposure to ionizing radiation occurs during medical and dental x-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, fluoroscopy and other imaging procedures.
Medical and dental radiation accounts for an estimated 55 percent of all radiation exposure. CT scans account for just 10 percent of radiological procedures in the U.S., but contribute an estimated 65 percent of the radiation dose from all medical imaging procedures.
Fluoroscopy is another major source of medical radiation exposure because it involves potentially high-dose exposure lasting from minutes to hours. Physicians in specialties other than radiology, for example, cardiology, gastroenterology, and surgery, use fluoroscopy for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
Radiation is both a mutagen (causing genetic mutation) and a carcinogen (causing cancer). This fact was recently acknowledged by the National Toxicology Program, which classified x-radiation and gamma-radiation as known human carcinogens, stating that “exposure to these types of radiation causes many types of cancer including leukemia and cancers of the thyroid, breast and lung.”
The bottom line: There is no safe dose of radiation, and the genetic damage inflicted by radiation is cumulative over a lifetime. Multiple exposures to low-dose radiation may cause the same harm as a single high-dose exposure.
To be fair, diagnostic radiation and radiation treatment are invaluable in the practice of medicine and dentistry today. Yet patients have the right to know that procedures involving exposure to radiation carry risks as well as benefits.
That is why I am pushing AB 929. If approved, it would require the California Department of Health Services to adopt quality-assurance regulations for medical and dental professionals that use radiation-producing equipment. The quality assurance standards will protect the public health while maintaining the diagnostic quality of images
No one should have unnecessary x-rays, particularly children and certainly women who are pregnant. The data on this danger is clear: multiple low-dose X-ray exposures can result in increased incidence of cancer.
Please join me in urging passage of AB 929.
Our lives may depend on it.
In the United States alone, one in three women and one in two men will suffer from cancer at some time during their lifetime.
In California each year, about 22,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and another 4,000 residents will be diagnosed with brain tumors — such as the one that killed my long-time friend and fellow Assemblymember Mike Gordon of El Segundo.
Gordon, 47 and the father of four, put up a valiant fight until late June.
Sadly, brain tumors are the leading cause of tumor-related deaths in children younger than age 20. Furthermore, breast cancer rates have tripled over the past 50 years, and the disease now is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide.
To help fight this trend, and after undergoing surgery myself for a malignant tumor late last year, in January I introduced a three-bill package to prevent cancer, including Assembly Bill 929. In February, the U.S. Department of Health National Toxicology Program classified x-rays and gamma rays as human carcinogens.
In late June, the National Academy of Sciences released a five-year study that concluded that low doses of radiation pose a risk for cancer.
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005, the state Senate, on a bipartisan vote, approved AB 929 to reduce unnecessary exposure to routine medical x-rays. This measure returns to the Assembly for concurrence of amendments, but I am hopeful it will soon be on its way to the governor.
Among the reasons why: The National Academy’s National Research Council develops the most up-to-date and comprehensive risk estimates for cancer and other health effects from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation. The report clearly supports previously reported risk estimates for solid cancer and leukemia.
I applaud this panel’s rejection of longstanding false claims that there is a threshold of low-level radiation where exposure is not harmful.
The incidence rates of cancer, especially breast and brain cancer are increasing at alarming rates. Exposure to ionizing radiation occurs during medical and dental x-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, fluoroscopy and other imaging procedures.
Medical and dental radiation accounts for an estimated 55 percent of all radiation exposure. CT scans account for just 10 percent of radiological procedures in the U.S., but contribute an estimated 65 percent of the radiation dose from all medical imaging procedures.
Fluoroscopy is another major source of medical radiation exposure because it involves potentially high-dose exposure lasting from minutes to hours. Physicians in specialties other than radiology, for example, cardiology, gastroenterology, and surgery, use fluoroscopy for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
Radiation is both a mutagen (causing genetic mutation) and a carcinogen (causing cancer). This fact was recently acknowledged by the National Toxicology Program, which classified x-radiation and gamma-radiation as known human carcinogens, stating that “exposure to these types of radiation causes many types of cancer including leukemia and cancers of the thyroid, breast and lung.”
The bottom line: There is no safe dose of radiation, and the genetic damage inflicted by radiation is cumulative over a lifetime. Multiple exposures to low-dose radiation may cause the same harm as a single high-dose exposure.
To be fair, diagnostic radiation and radiation treatment are invaluable in the practice of medicine and dentistry today. Yet patients have the right to know that procedures involving exposure to radiation carry risks as well as benefits.
That is why I am pushing AB 929. If approved, it would require the California Department of Health Services to adopt quality-assurance regulations for medical and dental professionals that use radiation-producing equipment. The quality assurance standards will protect the public health while maintaining the diagnostic quality of images
No one should have unnecessary x-rays, particularly children and certainly women who are pregnant. The data on this danger is clear: multiple low-dose X-ray exposures can result in increased incidence of cancer.
Please join me in urging passage of AB 929.
Our lives may depend on it.
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