The Biological Effects of High-Energy Radiation

The biological effects of high-energy radiation are reviewed, with emphasis on the effects of the hadronic component. Proton and helium ion effects are similar to those of the more conventional and sparsely ionizing x- and ¿-radiation. Heavy-ions are known to be more biologically effective, but the long term hazard from accumulated damage has yet to be assessed. Some evidence of widely varying but dramatically increased effectiveness of very high-energy (~70 GeV) hadron beams is reviewed. Finally, the importance of the neutron component in many situations around high-energy accelerators is pointed out.