THE HEALTH-EFFECTS OF IONIZING-RADIATION - A SURVEY OF LOCAL HEALTH OFFICIALS IN NEW-ENGLAND AND NEW-YORK

The purpose of the study is to determine the educational needs of publ ic health officials concerning their knowledge, attitude, beliefs, and practices with specific reference to ionizing radiation. The public h ealth directors or designates, working in health departments whose jur isdictions fall within a 60-mile radius of the 14 operating nuclear po wer plants in the New York-New England region, were studied A review o f the literature indicates that historically there appears to have bee n a limited effort to conduct such a needs assessment in the United St ates. A questionnaire was developed to measure the public health direc tors' knowledge, attitudes, and practice. The instrument was mailed in the summer of 1992 to all public officials listed in the National Dir ectory of Local Health Departments. Knowledge, attitude, and practice questions were analyzed in terms of frequency of correct, incorrect, a nd don't know responses. The data presented convey the message that th ere should be public input into the risk assessment of nuclear plants and that local health departments should inform the public about the h ealth risks posed by nuclear plants in their locality. The authors rec ommend that an appropriate Federal agency sponsor a national survey an d that States should establish a training program on the health effect s of ionizing radiation for local public health officials.