Life shortening in mice exposed to fission neutrons and gamma rays. VIII. Exposures to continuous gamma radiation.

Data are presented on the mean aftersurvival of male B6CF1 mice exposed for 22 h per day, 5 days per week, to 60Co gamma radiation at dose rates of 1.36 to 12.64 x 10(-3) cGy/min for 23 weeks or 1.36 to 6.32 x 10(-3) cGy/min for 59 weeks. For deaths from all causes, linear dose-response curves were obtained with slopes (days of life lost/cGy) of 0.158 +/- 0.016 and 0.077 +/- 0.002 for 23- and 59-week exposures, respectively. These values were not significantly altered when the analysis was restricted to those mice dying with tumors (92% of the total) or to those presumably dying from tumors (82% of the total). Analysis of mortality rates showed that about 90% of the radiation-specific excess mortality was tumor related. The 59-week exposure series induced only a small increase in the number of days of life lost/cGy/weekly fraction over that induced by 23 weeks of irradiation, 4.53 +/- 0.15 compared to 3.64 +/- 0.36 days lost/cGy/weekly fraction. This lower than expected value for 59 weeks of exposure may signal the approach to the final linear, additive, injury term postulated from earlier studies at this laboratory with low-dose-rate, daily, duration-of-life 60Co gamma irradiation.