The harmful effects of ionising radiation can be more long-term and widespread than previously believed, Irish scientists have discovered. Researchers in Ireland and Britain have combined to confirm findings that, as well as causing cancer, even low levels of radiation could also be responsible for a range of other diseases.
The discovery was originally made in 1982 by a husband-and-wife team then based at St Luke's Hospital in Dublin, Dr Colm Seymour and Dr Carmel Mothersill.
Undergoing X-rays or scans in hospitals is one of the main ways through which Irish people are exposed to ionising radiation. These, along with naturally occurring radon gas and nuclear power plants, are among the chief sources of radiation.
Dr Mothersill is now head of the Radiation Science Centre at the Dublin Institute of Technology which has teamed up with the Medical Research Council in Britain to demonstrate that radiation can also cause brain diseases like motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, as well as developmental defects in embryos.
Dr Mothersill said last night it could also be shown that radiation can have much longer-term effects than previously thought.
"People had thought that if a cell recovers from a dose of radiation then there is no residual damage.
"We've shown the effect can persist for up to 400 generations of cells over a period of several years."
This meant that people exposed to radiation, even where there appeared to be no effect, could be left more vulnerable to carcinogenic substances.
Dr Mothersill said initially it had been extremely difficult to gain international credibility for the findings made by herself and Dr Seymour.
"It took us four years before we could get anybody to publish them," she said.
American scientists, however, gradually began to produce similar findings of their own and now the involvement of the British government-sponsored Medical Research Council has given added authority to the Irish scientists' view.