Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > September > September 3, 2004:
Hour One: Full-Body CAT Scans / Robert Kennedy Jr - Environmental Politics

With the election just a few months away, the environment has barely registered as a campaign issue. In this hour, we are joined by environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy. His new book looks at the environmental policies of the current administration. We'll hear his take on Bush's environmental legacy, and we'll talk with law professor Jonathan Adler, who says Kennedy has it wrong.

Plus, a look at rethinking full body CAT scans for healthy people. New research says that elective full-body computed tomography, or CT, scans, can increase a person's risk of cancer. "The radiation dose from a full-body CT scan is comparable to the doses received by some of the atomic-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where there is clear evidence of increased cancer risk," wrote the authors of the study in the journal Radiology. We'll talk about it. Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

Guests:
David J. Brenner
Radiation Oncologist
Columbia University
New York, New York

------

Robert F. Kennedy Jr
Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
Author: "Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy" (HarperCollins, 2004)
New York, New York

Jonathan H. Adler
Associate Professor of Law
Associate Director, Center for Business Law and Regulation
Case Western Reserve University
National Review Online Contributing Editor
Cleveland, Ohio

This segment produced by Annette Heist

 

Archived Audio:
CT scans risk
listen in RealAudio format
listen in Windows Media format

environmental politics
listen in RealAudio format
listen in Windows Media format
streaming audio help from NPR

Related Links:
Full-body CT scans pose high cancer risk
Computed Tomography (CT) Scan
CNN.com - CT scans can save lives, so who should get one?

Jonathan H. Adler on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on National Review Online
Bush backpedals on environment
NPR : Challenging Bush's Environmental Record
 
Books/Articles Discussed:

"Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy" by Robert F Kennedy Jr. HarperCollins, 2004.

"Estimated Radiation Risks Potentially Associated with Full-Body CT Screening," David J. Brenner and Carl D. Elliston. Radiology 2004 232: 735-738.

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)

Search by keywords:
Science Friday® is produced by ScienceFriday Inc., and is a registered service mark.
Copyright 2004 ScienceFriday Inc. All Rights Reserved.