RATE OF DECAY OF DOSE EQUIVALENT OF RADIATION INDUCED SUB-LETHAL DAMAGE

Existing experimental data relating to the rate of recovery of the dose equivalent of sub‐lethal damage are analysed. A precise determination of the half‐life of the dose equivalent is found to be impossible, but all the evidence reviewed suggests that it is of the order of 1 or 2 hr for mammalian systems irradiated at normal body temperature and that, in such systems, little error is produced in dosage calculations by assuming a value of 1.5 hr to be applicable, as originally suggested by Lajtha & Oliver (1961). Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved