Excess Relative Risk of Mortality from Diseases of the Circulation System after Irradiation: Report 1. Overview of Reviews and Meta-Analysis Declared Effects of Low Dosesстатья
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Аннотация:A review in two reports is devoted to the problem of the significance of the excess relative risk (ERR) per 1 Gy/Sv for mortality from diseases of the circulatory system for various exposed groups from the standpoint of epidemiology and in terms of the effects of low doses of radiation. Report 1 provides an overview of reviews and meta-analyses, together with key studies, on this topic. Most sources from 2005–2021 (publications by M.P. Little et al., etc.) reveal an ideological bias towards the effects of low doses of radiation (noted in the titles or summaries of almost all papers), and often there was a lack of understanding about the upper limit of this range accepted by international organizations for low LET radiation (below 0.1 Gy according to UNSCEAR, ICRP, BEIR, etc.). In the sources selected by M.P. Little et al. for reviews and meta-analyses, both absurd ERR values per 1 Gy and incorrect recalculations of the risk estimated in the originals at 0.1 Gy are observed. Examples of the incorrectness of such estimations are presented, since the ERR per 1 Gy calculated for ranges of lower doses may differ from those for high dose ranges by many times, and this is a systemic phenomenon, despite all the declarations of a linear nonthreshold concept (LNT). The selection of sources for meta-analyses used by Little and other authors (2010–2020) violates the principles of homogeneity (groups with radiotherapy (including children with tinea capitis) are combined with miners, liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, etc.), representing an illustration of a meme of critics of meta-analytical approaches (“combination of apples and oranges”). The values of ERR per Gy obtained as a result of meta-analyses for diseases of the circulatory system in general and for their individual types according to epidemiological risk scales (R.R. Monson scale, 1980, 1990) are either insignificant (ERR = 0–0.2), or, rarely, located on the border of weak associations (ERR = 0.2–0.5). An analysis of data from reviews and meta-analyses on the topic did not reveal sources that investigated effects limited to low dose ranges. In almost all cases, with some exceptions (miners with radon exposure, cohorts with absurd risks, etc.), the upper limit of the range for groups in the samples was either moderate (0.1–1 Gy) or high (>1 Gy) doses. An analysis of almost all publications on the topic of Mayak employees (Azizova et al., 2010–2018; 31 sources) showed a lack of risk studies for groups with low doses of external exposure (up to 0.1 Gy), with the exception of works from 2014 and 2018, in which either reverse or weak effects were established in the absence of dose dependence. Thus, no samples in the reviews and meta-analyses, as well as the data for Mayak PA, provide material on the corresponding effect of low doses, despite the prevailing general idea of its “proof.” It was concluded that one should adhere to the statement of international organizations (USCEAR, ICRP, NCRP, BEIR, etc.) that the threshold for increased mortality from diseases of the circulatory system is not less than 0.5 Gy, and then raising the issue of their radiation attribution for low doses is impractical.