Rudi H. Nussbaum
Professor Emeritus of Physics

Office Phone: N/A

Office Location: 32 Science Building 1

Email: nussbaumr@pdx.edu

Research Interests

After many years of research and publications in nuclear radiation and nuclear solid state physics (Mössbauer effect), Dr. Nussbaum has turned his interest to reviewing and critiquing published studies on the health effects of low doses of ionizing radiation. He is taking particular interest in the unresolved controversies in the field about adequacy of official radiation protection standards that define "safe" exposures to workers and, more importantly, to the general public.

He has been an invited speaker at a number of international conferences on health effects from low-dose environmental radiation. He has also been invited to speak to citizens advisory committees for federal agencies operating under the Centers for Disease Control that deal with the health impact of Hanford(WA) radioactive releases.

In cooperation with colleagues here and abroad Dr. Nussbaum analyzed the low-dose cancer risks among Hiroshima-Nagasaki survivors and estimated considerably higher than officially accepted risk factors per unit dose below 20 cGy exposure. He also supervised a study of possible health effects among military personnel from exposures resulting from massive releases of radioactive materials into the environment around the Hanford (WA) Nuclear Reservation.

Selected Publications

Consistencies and discrepancies: current perspectives on low-dose health effects of ionizing radiation. R.H.Nussbaum and W. Koehnlein. Appl Occup Environ Hygiene 11(4):359-369(1996). Ionizing Radiation. Chapter in Occupational, Industrial and Environmental Toxicology, Mosby-Year Book, Inc., St. Louis,MO, to be published May 1997.

Hypothyroidism and spontaneous abortions among Hanford, Washington, downwinders. C.M.Grossman, W.E.Morton,and R.H.Nussbaum. Arch Environ Health 51(3):175-176(1996).

Health consequences of exposures to ionizing radiation from external and internal sources: Challenges to radiation protection standards and biomedical research. Medicine & Global Survival 2(4):198-213(1995).

Inconsistencies and Open Questions Regarding Low-Dose Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation. R.H. Nussbaum and W. Kohnlein, Environ. Health Perspect. 102(8):656-667 (1994).

Beitrag radioaktiver Umweltverschmutzung zum Gesundheitsrisiko: Neuere Beobachtungen und offene Fragen zur Wirkung niedriger Dosen. W. Kohnlein and R.R. Nussbaum in Loseblattwerk Praktische Umweltmedizin, Springer Publ., Heidelberg (December 1993).

Carcinogenic effects of low-dose and low-rate radiation exposures: A paradigm in transition. W. Kohnlein and R.H. Nussbaum, MEDICEF International, Direct Information 9/11:115-134 (1992- 93).

Reassessment of radiogenic cancer risk and mutagenesis at low doses of ionizing radiation. W. Kohnlein and R.H. Nussbaum, Adv. Mutagenesis Res. 3:53-80 (1991).

Die neuste Krebsstatistik der Hiroshima-Nagasaki ?berlebenden: Eine unabh?ngige Analyse. R.H. Nussbaum, W. K?hnlein and R.E. Belsey, Mediz. Klinik 86:99-108 (1991).

Recent mortality statistics for distally exposed A-bomb survivors: The lifetime cancer risk for exposures under 50 cGy(rad). R.H. Nussbaum, R.E. Belsey and W. Kohnlein, Medicina Nuclearis (Berlin, GDR) 2:163-174 (1990).

Radiation cancer risks: Who is ordained to speak for science? R.H. Nussbaum, Health Phys. 56:958-959 (1990).

New data inconsistent with "scientific consensus" on low-level radiation cancer risks. R.H. Nussbaum, Health Phys. 56:961-962 (1990).

Comment on 'health effects from radiation.' R.H. Nussbaum, Env. Sci. Tech. 22:746 (1988).