Professor Cohen was a staunch opponent of the so-called Linear no-threshold model (LNT) which postulates there exists no safe threshold for radiation exposure.
"[6] 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.
"[10] In March, 2011, Professor Cohen stated, reflecting on his study and its controversial results, that low levels of radiation can have beneficial health effects and reduce the risks of cancer, "There is evidence on both sides.
Furthermore, ...[on his viewpoint, and its support found in his exhaustive studies] it could go further and say that no confounding factors (like socio-economic, geography, ethnicity, medical care access, and beyond 500 explored in the analysis) can explain the results.
[14] Subsequent research would join a profound array of positions including a 1982 United Nations' work-group study -UNSCEAR- concluding: "There appear to be no nonspecific effects from low doses of radiation that result in a shortening of the life span.
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.
He has written about 135 research papers on basic nuclear physics, about 300 scientific papers on energy and environment (e.g. nuclear power, health effects of radiation, radioactive waste, risks in our society), and about 80 articles in popular magazines such as Physics and Society, National Review, Oui, Science Digest, Catholic Digest, and Scientific American.
[28][29] He was elected to member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2003,[30] "for fundamental contributions to our understanding of low-level radiation" and Chairman of the American Nuclear Society Division of Environmental Sciences (1980–81).