Hermann Muller and his LNT scientific and policy leadership: Private communication reveals uncertainties.
Cancer risk assessment
Hereditary risk assessment
Linear no-threshold model (LNT)
Mutation
Precautionary principle
Threshold dose response
Journal
The Science of the total environment
ISSN: 1879-1026
Titre abrégé: Sci Total Environ
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 0330500
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
15 Dec 2023
15 Dec 2023
Historique:
received:
25
07
2023
revised:
30
08
2023
accepted:
30
08
2023
medline:
6
11
2023
pubmed:
4
9
2023
entrez:
3
9
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The present paper highlights numerous publications of Hermann J. Muller with a focus on his opinions concerning the validity of the linear no-threshold dose response model for hereditary and cancer risk assessment. These comments reflect a very consistent and powerfully supporting position for the LNT model. However, newly discovered correspondence between Muller and Robley D. Evans reveals that Muller was highly uncertain about the supportive science, and therefore hid his real opinions, deliberately misleading the scientific community and governmental agencies. Of further historical value is that in the correspondence with Evans, Muller proposed what might be the first articulation of an environmentally based Precautionary Principle. These perspectives have remained unknown since Muller requested Evans to keep this letter private.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37660820
pii: S0048-9697(23)05382-2
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166757
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Review
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
166757Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.