In view of the diversity of biological responses and the extent to which many of them remain poorly elucidated, there is merit in the suggestion by Calabrese and Baldwin that the term ‘hormesis’ should be applicable to those adaptive responses that are characterized by biphasic dose–response relationships, without reference to any associated beneficial or harmful effects. Whether the dose–response relationships for radiation-induced mutations and chromosome aberrations are biphasic in nature is an important question that remains to be resolved.
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) . Sources and effects of ionizing radiation. UNSCEAR 1994 Report to the General Assembly, with scientific annexes, No. E.94.IX.11. New York: United Nations , 1994.
2.
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) . Evaluation of the linear-nonthreshold dose–response model for ionizing radiation. NCRP Report No. 136. Bethesda, MD: National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements , 2001.
