Wojcik Andrzej, Hamza Karim, Lundegård Iann, Enghag Margareta, Haglund Karin, Arvanitis Leena, Schenk Linda
MBW Department, Centre for Radiation Protection Research, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 20C, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Institute of Biology, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland.
Radiat Environ Biophys. 2019 Mar;58(1):13-20. doi: 10.1007/s00411-018-0763-4. Epub 2018 Nov 22.
The levels of stochastic health effects following exposure to low doses of ionising radiation are not well known. A consequence of the uncertainty is that any radiation exposure is met with deep concern-both by the public and by scientists who disagree about how the partly conflicting results from low-dose studies should be interpreted. The concern is not limited to ionising radiation but is inherent to other areas of modern technologies such as biotechnology or electromagnetic fields. The everyday presence of advanced technologies confronts people with the necessity to take decisions and there is an ongoing debate regarding both the nature and magnitude of potential risks and how education efforts may empower peoples´ decision-making. In the field of radiation research there are different opinions regarding the optimal education methods, spanning from the idea that peoples' fears will be eliminated by introducing dose thresholds below which the risk is assumed to be zero, to suggestions of concentrating research efforts in an attempt to eliminate all uncertainties regarding the effects of low doses. The aim of this paper was to present our approach which is based on developing an education program at the secondary school level where students learn to understand the role of science in society. Teaching about radiation risk as a socio-scientific issue is not based on presenting facts but on showing risks in a broader perspective aiming at developing students' competency in making decisions based on informed assessment. We hope to stimulate and encourage other researchers to pursue similar approaches.
低剂量电离辐射照射后的随机健康效应水平尚不明确。这种不确定性带来的一个后果是，任何辐射照射都会引发公众以及科学家的深切关注，这些科学家对于如何解读低剂量研究中部分相互矛盾的结果存在分歧。这种担忧不仅限于电离辐射，在生物技术或电磁场等现代技术的其他领域也同样存在。先进技术在日常生活中的广泛应用使人们不得不做出决策，关于潜在风险的性质和程度以及教育如何增强人们决策能力的争论一直存在。在辐射研究领域，对于最佳教育方法存在不同观点，从认为通过引入剂量阈值（低于该阈值风险被假定为零）可以消除人们恐惧的观点，到建议集中研究力量以消除低剂量效应所有不确定性的观点。本文的目的是介绍我们基于在中学阶段开展教育项目的方法，让学生学会理解科学在社会中的作用。将辐射风险作为一个社会科学问题进行教学并非基于陈述事实，而是从更广泛的视角展示风险，旨在培养学生基于充分评估做出决策的能力。我们希望激发并鼓励其他研究人员采用类似方法。
