Bernard Cohen

Bernard Leonard Cohen is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been a staunch opponent to the so called Linear no-threshold model (LNT) which postulates that there is no safe threshold for radiation exposure.

No-threshold and plutonium toxicity debates

Cohen's debates in academic periodicals and published correspondence with R. William Field, Brian J. Smith (assistant professor of biostatistics, University of Iowa), Jerry Puskin (from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), Sarah Darby, and Sir Richard Doll and others regarding his radon-related ecologic studies are well known. [ [http://radlab.nl/radsafe/archives/0202/msg00329.html "Cohen's fallacy"] University of Iowa published correspondence. ] [ [http://www.health-physics.com/pt/re/healthphys/abstract.00004032–199807000–00004.htm;jsessionid=FQMXCbJ3nvZZF04wL89TTvTjx7gTf5wzBy2cvDY9GylBQGmZk9pb!-1119014599!-949856145!8091!-1 Abstract from "Response to Criticisms of Smith Et Al."] Cohen, Bernard. "Health Physics". 75(1):23–28, July 1998.]

Cohen has offered rewards of up to $10,000 if people could provide evidence that the inverse association he found between radon (county averages) and lung cancer (county averages) was due to some factor other than failure of the linear-no threshold theory. Puskin, Smith, Field and others have claimed that his findings are due in part to his inability to control for the inverse association between smoking and radon. [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=12705451&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_Brief Abstract from "Smoking as a confounder in ecologic correlations of cancer mortality rates with average county radon levels."] Puskin, JL. "Health Physics" February 2004,Cohen, BL. "The Puskin observation on smoking as a confounder in ecological correlations of cancer mortality rates with average county radon levels", "Health Phys" 86:203–204; 2004 pp. 203–4.] [ [http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/0306/msg00282.html "A respectable end to radon debate needed"] Published email correspondence between Cohen and Vanderbilt University.]

When Ralph Nader described plutonium as "the most toxic substance known to mankind", Cohen, then a tenured professor, offered to consume on camera as much plutonium oxide as Nader could consume of caffeine, [Bernard L. Cohen in Nuclear Engergy; Karl Otto Ott and Bernard I. Spinrad, eds. (New York: Plenum Press, 1985), pp. 355–365.] the stimulant found in coffee and other beverages, which in its pure form has an oral (LD₅₀) of 192 milligrams per kilogram in rats.cite journal | title = Factors Affecting Caffeine Toxicity: A Review of the Literature | last=Peters| first=Josef M. | journal = The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and the Journal of New Drugs | year= 1967 | issue=7|pages=131–141 | url = http://jcp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/7/3/131 | accessdate = 2008-03-29 ]

Publications and awards

Cohen has written six books, including "Heart of the Atom" (1967), "Concepts of Nuclear Physics" (1970), "Nuclear Science and Society" (1974), "Before It's Too Late" (1983), and "The Nuclear Energy Option" (1990). He has also written about 135 research papers on basic nuclear physics, about 200 scientific papers on energy and environment (e.g. nuclear power, health effects of radiation, radioactive waste, risks in our society), and about 60 articles in popular magazines such as "National Review", "Oui", "Science Digest", "Catholic Digest", and "American Legion Magazine".

Cohen has received the American Physical Society Tom Bonner Prize (1981) for his nuclear physics research. He was also elected to Chairman of the A.P.S. Division of Nuclear Physics (1974–75).

For his research on energy and environment, Cohen received the Health Physics Society Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, the American Nuclear Society Walter Zinn Award, Public Information Award, and Special Award. He was also elected to membership in National Academy of Engineering, and to Chairman of the American Nuclear Society Division of Environmental Sciences (1980–81).

References

External links

* [http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/ Bernard Cohen] home page. Contains full text of [http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book/BOOK.html "The Nuclear Energy Option"] (ISBN 0–306–43567–5).
* [http://russp.org/BLC-3.html The Myth of Plutonium Toxicity] paper in which Cohen discusses his challenge to Nader.