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Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources.
The sievert is a unit in the International System of Units (SI) intended to represent the stochastic health risk of ionizing radiation, which is defined as the probability of causing radiation-induced cancer and genetic damage. The sievert is important in dosimetry and radiation protection. It is named after Rolf Maximilian Sievert, a Swedish medical physicist renowned for work on radiation dose measurement and research into the biological effects of radiation.
Radiation dosimetry in the fields of health physics and radiation protection is the measurement, calculation and assessment of the ionizing radiation dose absorbed by an object, usually the human body. This applies both internally, due to ingested or inhaled radioactive substances, or externally due to irradiation by sources of radiation.
Equivalent dose is a dose quantity H representing the stochastic health effects of low levels of ionizing radiation on the human body which represents the probability of radiation-induced cancer and genetic damage. It is derived from the physical quantity absorbed dose, but also takes into account the biological effectiveness of the radiation, which is dependent on the radiation type and energy. In the SI system of units, the unit of measure is the sievert (Sv).
The roentgen equivalent man (rem) is a CGS unit of equivalent dose, effective dose, and committed dose, which are dose measures used to estimate potential health effects of low levels of ionizing radiation on the human body.
Absorbed dose is a dose quantity which is the measure of the energy deposited in matter by ionizing radiation per unit mass. Absorbed dose is used in the calculation of dose uptake in living tissue in both radiation protection, and radiology. It is also used to directly compare the effect of radiation on inanimate matter such as in radiation hardening.
The linear no-threshold model (LNT) is a dose-response model used in radiation protection to estimate stochastic health effects such as radiation-induced cancer, genetic mutations and teratogenic effects on the human body due to exposure to ionizing radiation. The model assumes a linear relationship between dose and health effects, even for very low doses where biological effects are more difficult to observe. The LNT model implies that all exposure to ionizing radiation is harmful, regardless of how low the dose is, and that the effect is cumulative over lifetime.
A hot particle is a microscopic piece of radioactive material that can become lodged in living tissue and deliver a concentrated dose of radiation to a small area. A generally accepted theory proposes that hot particles within the body are vastly more dangerous than external emitters delivering the same dose of radiation in a diffused manner. Other researchers claim that there is little or no difference in risk between internal and external emitters, maintaining that individuals will likely continue to accumulate radiation dose from internal sources even after being removed from the original hazard and properly decontaminated, regardless of the relative danger from an internally sourced radiation dose compared to an equivalent externally sourced radiation dose.
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere in the form of both particulate and gaseous radioisotopes. As of 2024, it was the world's largest known release of radioactivity into the environment.
The Ionising Radiations Regulations (IRR) are statutory instruments which form the main legal requirements for the use and control of ionising radiation in the United Kingdom. There have been several versions of the regulations, the current legislation was introduced in 2017 (IRR17), repealing the 1999 regulations and implementing the 2013/59/Euratom European Union directive.
The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent, international, non-governmental organization, with the mission to protect people, animals, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. Its recommendations form the basis of radiological protection policy, regulations, guidelines and practice worldwide.
The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) is a standardization body set up in 1925 by the International Congress of Radiology, originally as the X-Ray Unit Committee until 1950. Its objective "is to develop concepts, definitions and recommendations for the use of quantities and their units for ionizing radiation and its interaction with matter, in particular with respect to the biological effects induced by radiation".
Radiobiology is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the effects of ionizing radiation on living things, in particular health effects of radiation. Ionizing radiation is generally harmful and potentially lethal to living things but can have health benefits in radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and thyrotoxicosis. Its most common impact is the induction of cancer with a latent period of years or decades after exposure. High doses can cause visually dramatic radiation burns, and/or rapid fatality through acute radiation syndrome. Controlled doses are used for medical imaging and radiotherapy.
Christopher Busby is a British scientist primarily studying the health effects of internal ionising radiation. Busby is a director of Green Audit Limited, a private company, and scientific advisor to the Low Level Radiation Campaign (LLRC).
The roentgen or röntgen is a legacy unit of measurement for the exposure of X-rays and gamma rays, and is defined as the electric charge freed by such radiation in a specified volume of air divided by the mass of that air . In 1928, it was adopted as the first international measurement quantity for ionizing radiation to be defined for radiation protection, as it was then the most easily replicated method of measuring air ionization by using ion chambers. It is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays and was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery.
Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment is a translation of a 2007 Russian publication by Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko, edited by Janette D. Sherman-Nevinger, and originally published by the New York Academy of Sciences in 2009 in their Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences series.
Effective dose is a dose quantity in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) system of radiological protection.
The committed dose in radiological protection is a measure of the stochastic health risk due to an intake of radioactive material into the human body. Stochastic in this context is defined as the probability of cancer induction and genetic damage, due to low levels of radiation. The SI unit of measure is the sievert.
Exposure to ionizing radiation is known to increase the future incidence of cancer, particularly leukemia. The mechanism by which this occurs is well understood, but quantitative models predicting the level of risk remain controversial. The most widely accepted model posits that the incidence of cancers due to ionizing radiation increases linearly with effective radiation dose at a rate of 5.5% per sievert; if correct, natural background radiation is the most hazardous source of radiation to general public health, followed by medical imaging as a close second. Additionally, the vast majority of non-invasive cancers are non-melanoma skin cancers caused by ultraviolet radiation. Non-ionizing radio frequency radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission, and other similar sources have been investigated as a possible carcinogen by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer, but to date, no evidence of this has been observed.
Radiation exposure is a measure of the ionization of air due to ionizing radiation from photons. It is defined as the electric charge freed by such radiation in a specified volume of air divided by the mass of that air. As of 2007, "medical radiation exposure" was defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection as exposure incurred by people as part of their own medical or dental diagnosis or treatment; by persons, other than those occupationally exposed, knowingly, while voluntarily helping in the support and comfort of patients; and by volunteers in a programme of biomedical research involving their exposure. Common medical tests and treatments involving radiation include X-rays, CT scans, mammography, lung ventilation and perfusion scans, bone scans, cardiac perfusion scan, angiography, radiation therapy, and more. Each type of test carries its own amount of radiation exposure. There are two general categories of adverse health effects caused by radiation exposure: deterministic effects and stochastic effects. Deterministic effects are due to the killing/malfunction of cells following high doses; and stochastic effects involve either cancer development in exposed individuals caused by mutation of somatic cells, or heritable disease in their offspring from mutation of reproductive (germ) cells.
References
- ↑ Blears, Hazel (4 March 2003). "Written answers: Radiation". Hansard . Parliament of the United Kingdom.
ECRR is not a formal scientific advisory committee to the European Commission or to the European Parliament
- 1 2 3 Staff writer (2003). "Background: the ECRR". European Committee on Radiation Risk. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
...formed in 1997 following a resolution made at a conference in Strasbourg arranged by the Green Group in the European Parliament.
- 1 2 Staff writers (13 May 1996). "Council Directive 96/29/EURATOM" (PDF). The Council of the European Union. pp. 1, 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
- ↑ McRae, Don M. (2005). The Canadian yearbook of international law, 2005 Annuaire canadien de droit international, 2005. Vancouver, B.C.: Publication Centre, University of British Columbia. p. 217. ISBN 0-7748-1359-8.
- ↑ ECRR - CERI: The Lesvos Declaration, 6 May 2009; Retrieved 2013-03-20
- ↑ Cancer as an Environmental Disease by P. Nicolopoulou-Stamati p. 50.
- ↑ Nussbaum, Rudi (May 2007). "The Chernobyl Nuclear Catastrophe: Unacknowledged Health Detriment". Environmental Health Perspectives. 115 (5): A238-9, author reply A239-40. doi:10.1289/ehp.115-a238. PMC 1867971 . PMID 17520030.
- ↑ Staff writers (23 July 2003). "2003 Recommendations of the European Committee on Radiation Risk". Health Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2009.