Reply #27: Not really

[Yo_Mama]

First, you should be able to eat as much bananas as you can hold without incurring radiation damage. It is true that bananas are high in natural radiation, but the increase is from Potassium 40. P-40 is a radioactive isotope of potassium.

Because your body preserves your potassium levels (eat more, some gets flushed out, eat less, less gets excreted), you would be unlikely to get any additional radiation from eating bananas unless the bananas in question had been contaminated with another radiation isotope capable of accumulating in your body.

Given that naturally higher radiation levels don't seem to be correlated well to excess human morbidity, I think it's a good bet that there IS some "safe" level of natural radiation.

All the epidemiological evidence is that low chronic (approaching observed natural levels of radiation exposure) radiation dosage doesn't increase death rates.

The regulatory approach is to use the LNT hypothesis, but that's because it is the no-risk choice. When trying to avoid unnecessary risks, that's the correct method. But every prediction I have ever looked at that used the LNT hypothesis to predict cancer rates from low chronic exposures has been disproven where evidence has been able to be collected.

You can believe the reverse if you wish, but there is no evidence for your belief. If you think you have some, please post it. I would be interested.