Radiation Flashcards
What is the truth about radiation in the environment?
It is everywhere and you cannot avoid it
Where does background radiation originate from?
Comic rays
Naturally occurring radiation in materials and living things
What is ionizing radiation produced by?
Unstable atoms having excess energy, mass, or both
Trying to reach stability
What are the 5 types of ionizing radiation?
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, X, and Neutron
What is alpha radiation?
Heavy, very short-range particles, travels only a few inches in the air, not an external hazard
Can’t penetrate clothes and not really skin but bad inhaled, eaten or goes near open wounds
Cannot be identified with standard instruments
What are examples of alpha radiation?
Radium, radon, uranium
Describe beta radiation.
Ejected electron that can travel several feet in the air and can penetrate human skin to the germinal layer
High levels of beta-emitting contaminants
Harmful if deposited internally and needs special instruments to be detected
What are examples of beta radiation?
Strontium-90, carbon-14, tritium and sulfer-35
Describe gamma and X radiations.
Highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation and can travel many feet in the air and can travel on human tissue
Can penetrate most materials and is easily detectable by survey meters with sodium iodide detector probe
What are some examples of gamma and X radiation?
Emission of alpha and beta rad in radioactive decay
Iodine-131, cesium-137, cobalt-60, radium-226
Where could neutron radiation be found?
Nuclear power plants, high altitude flight and some industrial sources
How is radiation measured in the US?
Gradation absorbed dose, dose equivalent, and exposure measured in rad, rem, or roentgen (R) and are all considered equal
How is exposure measured?
Estimating curies (Ci)
The greater the Ci the ____ the radioactivity and emitted radiation.
Greater
What is the international system for radiation measurement?
Gray (Gy) and sievert (Sv) for absorbed dose and equivalent dose
What does it mean to measure radioactivity?
The size or weight of a material does not indicate its activity level
Measured in curies per unit mass and depends on the half life
What is the SI unit for radioactivity?
Becquerel (Bq)
Radiation exposure should be limited—-
As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)
What are the general rules of ionizing radiation injuries?
Damage increases proportionally to exposure Effects may not appear for years following the exposure Few show specificity regarding radiation etiology
What are the most studied groups of those who suffer from radiation?
Atomic bomb survivors
Marshall islanders
Chernobyl survivors
Describe characteristics of atomic bomb survivors?
Wide variety of malignancies
Overall incidence inc in proportion to rad dose
Breast cancer, leukemia, thyroid
Gene mutations, chromosome aberrations
What occurs when a radiation injury effects blood forming tissues?
Highly radiosensitive and changes can occur within minutes after a 1 Sv dose
Profound depression in WBC and platelets in 3-5 weeks
10 Sv is lethal over minutes or days