NOTE research project to examine the health effects of low doses of radiation

	Professor Sisko Salomaa, the Research Director of STUK acts as the coordinator of the NOTE project.

The new four-year European Integrated Project NOTE (Non-targeted effects of ionising radiation) is coordinated by STUK - Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. The project starts on with a kick-off meeting, held on September 11-14, 2006 in Espoo, Finland. The meeting will bring together approximately 40 experts from the European Union, Norway and Canada. Professor Sisko Salomaa, the Research Director of STUK acts as the coordinator of the NOTE project.

”The new research findings on the effects of ionising radiation do not fit the old paradigm any more,” says Salomaa.

In research done so far, there is accumulating evidence on various non-targeted effects of ionising radiation, such as, for example, the so-called bystander effect. It is a phenomenon where cellular effects are expressed in unirradiated neighbouring cells near to an irradiated cell or cells. On the basis of the present knowledge, one cannot yet, however, state whether this effect increases the health risk or not. The objective of the NOTE project is to investigate the mechanisms underlying non-targeted effects.

The project also aims to investigate if non-targeted effects modulate health risk at low doses and if ionising radiation can induce non-cancer diseases.

”It is not altogether impossible that radiation may also have beneficial effects, for example, via the human immune system”, explains Salomaa.

Will radiation safety guidelines change?

The bystander effect is potentially important. It must be taken into account, among others, when assessing the cancer risk from radon exposure, which is the major contributor of the radiation dose in many European countries including Finland. It should also be noted when assessing the health effects of radiation for cabin crew of airplanes, workers at nuclear power plants and crew on space missions.

The epidemiological data on people exposed to radiation are mainly based on such population groups that have been exposed to large doses of radiation. A basic assumption underlying the system of radiation protection is that the risks due to the small doses can be directly deduced from the high doses. The new findings of radiation biology challenge this concept.

”The possible influence of this new evidence on radiation protection standards will certainly come with a delay and will also depend on the results. The objective now is to revise the current paradigm on how radiation affects cells and how this leads to health effects – or if, in certain cases, radiation could also be a protective factor”, Sisko Salomaa states.

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is responsible for the recommendations of radiation protection on international level. The key objective of the radiation protection is to prevent the harmful effects of radiation.

19 research organisations participate in NOTE

The duration of the NOTE project is four years, 2006–2010. 19 research organisations from Europe (including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, UK) and Canada are taking part in NOTE.

NOTE is the first integrated project coordinated by Finland in EURATOM’s Specific Programme for Research and Training on Nuclear Energy in the 6^th Framework Programme. The European Union finances NOTE with 6.3 million euros. The total budget of the project is 15 million euros.

More information about NOTE can be found at the address http://www.note-ip.org

NOTE partner organisations

Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Finland • University of Dundee, UK • Leipzig University, Germany • MRC Radiation and Genome Stability Unit, UK • Imperial College, UK • Gray Cancer Institute, UK • Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Belgium • Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland • National Institute of Health, Italy • University of Leicester, UK • McMaster University, Canada • Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Canada • National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Hungary • National Research Centre for Environment and Health (GSF), Germany • University of Pavia, Italy • University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Tyskland • University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany • Norwegian Radium Hospital, Norway • Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation, Canada

Further information:
Project Co-ordinator Sisko Salomaa, tel. + 358 0 759 88 495

Information Officer Riikka Laitinen-Sorvari, tel. +358 9 759 88 210
The www pages of NOTE: http://www.note-ip.org