Total Body Irradiation and LD 50 in Man

Estimates of the dose of whole body irradiation in man which would be expected to kill half the exposed population (the LD50) have varied considerably. There has been a tendency for more recent estimates to give higher doses which reflects recognition of measures which may influence the outcome of such an exposure. Thus Warren and Bowers (1950) suggested an LD50 of 3 Gy, Mole (1975) a higher value of 4.5 Gy and two other groups more than 5 Gy (US NRC reactor safety study, 1975, Deutsche Risikostudie Kernkraftwerke, 1980).