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Proposed Rule Change Worries Some About Radiation Regulation

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Experts worry that the Environmental Protection Agency is planning changes in regulations that could lead to higher levels of radiation exposure for people on the job and others who come into contact with radiation.

For decades the government has viewed any exposure to harmful radiation as a cancer risk.

An EPA spokesman says the proposed regulation doesn't trigger any change in such policy and instead is about "increasing transparency on assumptions" about how the body responds to different doses of dangerous substances.

Yet one of the primary proponents of the rule change promotes the minority view that a bit of radiation damage is actually a good thing and that weakening limits on radiation exposure would save billions of dollars.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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