Basic Radiological Science
Thomas A. Carder in Handling of Radiation Accident Patients, 1993
Natural background radiation is radiation bombarding all of us from everywhere all of the time; from the Earth, from outerspace, from the air, from building materials, from the food we eat. Background radiation comes from naturally occurring radioactive isotopes in everything, even our own bodies. The quantity of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes in our bodies is very small, but nonetheless, there are radioactive isotopes within us. Some of the potassium which is so vital to our living chemistry is radioactive. Some of the sodium which is also vital to our living chemistry is within us as a radioactive isotope. Even some of the carbon, the element on which life is based, that is within our bodies is radioactive. Some background radiation is likely to still be coming from nuclear weapons testing. The Chernobyl disaster has contributed to world-wide fallout as well. We have lived with background radiation since we were born. Even our fathers and mothers had radioactive materials in them and still do.
Imaging in Trauma
Kenneth D Boffard in Manual of Definitive Surgical Trauma Care: Incorporating Definitive Anaesthetic Trauma Care, 2019
The World Health Organisation and the IRCP recommend a maximum annual radiation dose.2Average annual natural background radiation worldwide is 2.4 mSv, ranging from 1–20 mSv, mainly owing to terrestrial and airborne radiation, and radiation from building materials. (In 250 flying hours, aircrew receive 50 mSv per year.)Maximum annual dose for radiation workers is 20 mSv average over 5 years, not exceeding 50 mSv per year.The current maximum whole-body dose is recommended not to exceed 50 mSv per annum.For therapeutic oncological radiation of single organ targets, the dose may reach 500 mSv (see Table 16.1).
Radiation safety considerations
C M Langton, C F Njeh in The Physical Measurement of Bone, 2016
Ionizing radiation is any radiation capable of releasing an electron from its orbital shell. Ionizing radiation encountered in bone measurements are X-rays and γ-rays. It is worth mentioning that people have been exposed to naturally occurring ionizing radiation since the beginning of time. Today, it is estimated that 82% of the exposure of the US population to radiation comes from natural background sources. Natural background radiation comes from three sources: cosmic rays, terrestrial radiation that comes from radioactive materials naturally occurring in the earth and internal deposits of radionuclides in our bodies. On the other hand man-made sources include medical X-rays, nuclear medicine procedures, consumer products (TV, tobacco) and nuclear reactors.
Environmental radiobiology of amphibians – knowledge gaps to be filled using cell lines
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2022
Natural exposure to background radiation is ubiquitous in the environment for all lifeforms. The natural radiation background is the result of several exposure sources: outer space, terrestrial, airborne, and diet. Radon gas is naturally produced by decay reactions of uranium in soil and rock and predominates airborne exposure. Radon gas generally contributes to a significant part of natural radiation background. There is a wide range of natural radioactivities in different biotopes worldwide (depending on, for example, the composition and concentrations of radionuclides present and the geo-architecture, latitude, and altitude of the landscape). However, natural background radioactitivies are still significantly lower than the highest radioactivities recorded to date in the CEZ (Møller and Mousseau 2013). For amphibians, background absorbed dose rates are 0.13–0.48 µGy/h (Beresford et al. 2008; Hosseini et al. 2010).
Main radiation pathways in the landscape of Armenia
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2023
V. B. Arakelyan, G. E. Khachatryan, A. G. Nalbandyan-Schwarz, C. E. Mothersill, C. B. Seymour, V. L. Korogodina
Armenia is a country of diverse mountainous landscapes (Figure 1). Natural background radiation comes mainly from rocks and cosmic rays. An additional source of high-energy electrons and gamma quanta are the most powerful natural electron accelerators operating in a highly electrified atmosphere during frequent thunderstorms in the Mount Aragats (Chilingarian et al. 2021), which increase the concentration of Rn-222 and its daughter products in the atmosphere (Chilingarian, Hovsepyan, Sargsyan 2020; Chilingarian, Hovsepyan, Karapetyan, et al. 2020). Atmospheric radiation is random and increases in the mountains. The radiation emanating from rocks has a constant activity, depending on the location. The highest activity corresponds to the mining centers of Kajaran and Kapan (Davtyan and Ananyan 1963; Belyaeva et al. 2019), and Yerevan city (Nalbandyan 2005; Belyaeva et al. 2021) (Figure 2). Radionuclides, mainly K-40, migrate with mountain rivers (Araks and Kura basin) to the valleys (Saghatelyan and Nalbandyan 2007). Their path depends on the climate and soils of the area (Figure 4(a,b)), and ends in the bottom sediments of the river or lakes, in soils and plants.
Correlation between cytogenetic biomarkers obtained from DC and CBMN assays caused by low dose radon exposure in smokers
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2019
Radon and its decay products emit high LET alpha radiation. Half of the human annual background radiation exposure occurs because of the Radon-222 (Robertson et al. 2013). High doses of ionizing radiation causes detrimental effects in humans such as chromosomal damage (Ulsh et al. 2015), mutations (Vilenchik and Knudson 2006), carcinogenesis (Evrard et al. 2005; Krewski et al. 2006) etc. Data related to low dose ionizing radiation effects is limited and there is an increasing concern towards the risk of low dose exposure because of frequent flyer risks, screening tests for cancer, occupational exposure, manned space exploration etc. (ICRP 1999; Gilbert 2001). At present, risks of low dose exposure are derived by linear extrapolation from higher doses which might not truly reflect the low dose risk (Mitchel 2007; Matsumoto et al. 2009; Wheeler and John Bailer 2013; Desouky et al. 2015). Because of lack of understanding of the molecular consequences of low dose exposure, ambiguity exists on the risks of low dose in human beings (Kim et al. 2015).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Environmental Radioactivity
- Ionizing Radiation
- Potassium
- Radioactive Decay
- Radionuclide
- Thorium
- Radon
- Nuclear Fallout
- Effective Dose
- Medical Imaging