Atomic Bomb Survivors

The data on Japanese atomic bomb survivors is one of the first places found supporting evidence for radiation hormesis. High Background Radiation Research Group performed a survey in 1980 looking at the occurrence of leukemia that occurred as a result of the radiation doses the bomb survivors received. It showed that atomic bomb survivors that received a dose lower than 200 mSv had no increase in the number of deaths due to leukemia. There is even some evidence of increased health in Japanese atomic bomb survivors including decreased mutation, leukemia, and solid tissue cancer mortality rates. Also an increase in average lifespan has been shown. Many scientists have tried to write off this information as a “statistical artifact”, but it
certainly proves the idea of hormesis.