The effects of low doses of ionising radiations. How do things stand with the understanding of these mechanisms? Prosinfo Nr 22 - October 2016

This article first discusses the definition of the low dose threshold, the difficulties to identify effects which can be attributed to ionising radiations at low doses, and proposes a brief overview of the different natural and artificial sources. It discusses the effects of low doses as they appear in recent epidemiological results for cancers related to medical, environmental or occupational exposures, for cardiovascular risks, and for cataracts. It proposes an overview of involved mechanisms by reference to UNSCEAR publications which addressed various topics: genomic instability, non-targeted effects and adaptive response, metabolism of reactive species of oxygen and mitochondrial function, gene and protein expression, and cell and tissue interactions. Research orientations and perspectives are evoked.