A microdosimetric understanding of low-dose radiation effects

This paper presents a microdosimetric approach to the problem of radiation response by which effects produced at low doses and dose rates can be understood as the consequences of radiation absorption events in the nucleus of a single relevant cell and in its DNA. Radiation absorption at the cellular level, i.e. in the cell nucleus as a whole, is believed to act through radicals. This kind of action is called 'non-specific' and leads to the definition of an 'elemental dose' and the 'integral response probability' of a cell population. Radiation absorption at the molecular level, i.e. in sensitive parts of the DNA, is thought to act through double-strand breaks. This kind of action is called 'specific' and leads to a 'relative local efficiency'. In general, both mechanisms occur for all types of radiation; however, it is the dose contribution of both specific and non-specific effects that determines the radiation quality of a given radiation. The implications of this approach for the specification of low-dose and low dose-rate regions are discussed. (author)