| RISKY BEHAVIOR/SITUATION | CAUSE OF DEATH |
|---|---|
| Smoking 28 packs of cigarettes | Cancer, heart disease |
| Drinking 200 liters of wine | Cirrhosis of the liver |
| Spending 400 hours in a coal mine | Black lung disease |
| Spending 1200 hours in a coal mine | Accident |
| Living 2 years in New York or Boston | Air pollution |
| Traveling 40 hours by canoe | Accident |
| Traveling 70 hours by bicycle | Accident |
| Traveling 20,000 miles by car | Accident |
| Flying 400,000 miles by jet | Accident |
| Flying 600,000 miles by jet | Cancer from cosmic radiation |
| Living 7 years in Denver | Cancer from cosmic radiation |
| Living 17 years in a stone/brick Bldg. | Cancer from natural radiation |
| 500 chest x-rays or 20 screening mammography studies | Cancer from radiation |
| Living 33 years with a cigarette smoker | Cancer and heart disease |
| Eating 1600 tablespoons of peanut butter | Liver cancer from aflatoxin B |
| Living 500 years at the boundary of nuclear power plant in the open | Cancer from Radiation |
| Drinking Miami water for 400 years | Cancer from chloroform |
| Eating 40,000 charcoal broiled steaks | Cancer from benzopyrene |
curiosa: Chance of winning MEGABUCKS Jackpot with 1 ticket:
= 1 in 5.25 million
=risk of contracting fatal cancer from 0.7 mrem I don't find this fact as comforting as the author apparently does!
Created February 21, 1997
Douglas J. Wagenaar, Ph.D., wagenaar@nucmed.bidmc.harvard.edu