Cold War Propaganda and Lies of Nobel Prize winner Herman Muller
Nobel prize winner Hermann Muller knowingly lied when he claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure, his study asserts. This led to the Linear No Threashold model for radiation that states “there is no safe level of nuclear radiation”‘
Herman Muller, Nobel Prize 1946. He lied when he said that low level radiation was harmful.
News from 2011: University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese, whose career research shows that low doses of some chemicals and radiation are benign or even helpful, says he has uncovered evidence that one of the fathers of radiation genetics, Nobel Prize winner Hermann Muller, knowingly lied when he claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure.
Edward Calabrese, Ex EPA toxicologist who specializes in hormesis studies.
Calabrese’s interpretation of this history is supported by letters and other materials he has retrieved, many from formerly classified files. He published key excerpts this month in Archives of Toxicology and Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis.
Muller was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that X-rays induce genetic mutations. He experimented between 1927 and 1946, working his way down from high levels of radiation in 1927 to the very lowest levels by 1944. His low level radiation experiments showed LESS mutations than would occur at even lower normal background radiation. He was astounded to see this. In collaboration with other scientists concerned over the dangers of atomic testing they agreed to lie and not mention the harmlessness of low level radiation. Muller’s intentions were good, Calabrese points out, but his decision not to mention key scientific evidence showing a positive effect has had a far-reaching impact on our approach to regulating radiation and chemical exposure. It led directly to an extreme fear of radiation by the public worldwide. It also lead to the dismissal by the scientific community of the healing effects of radiation. This one lie led to further Cold War propaganda to demonize Nuclear Radiation. This is why we fear even harmless low level radiation!
Listen to Edward Calabrese speaking on the subject during a Candian Broadcasting Corporation show Quirks and Quarks 2005.