  Cosmic rays are known to cause biological effects directly and through
ionizing radiation produced by their secondaries. These effects have been
detected in airline crews and other specific cases where members of the
population are exposed to above average secondary fluxes. Recent work has found
a correlation between solar particle events and congenital malformations. In
this work we use the results of computational simulations to approximate the
ionizing radiation from such events as well as longer term increases in cosmic
ray flux. We find that the amounts of ionizing radiation produced by these
events are insufficient to produce congenital malformations under the current
paradigm regarding muon ionizing radiation. We believe that further work is
needed to determine the correct ionizing radiation contribution of cosmogenic
muons. We suggest that more extensive measurements of muon radiation effects
may show a larger contribution to ionizing radiation dose than currently
assumed.
