General Medical Advices

What is radiation?

- Radiation is a form of energy that is present all around us.
- Different types of radiation, some of which have more energy than others.
- The amount of radiation released into the environment is measured in units called curies. However, the dose of radiation a person receives is measured in units called rem.

How can exposure occur?

- People are exposed to small amounts of radiation every day, both from natural sources (from elements in the soil or cosmic rays from the Sun), as man-made sources. The man-made sources include other electronic equipment (such as microwave ovens and television sets), medical sources (such as X-rays, certain diagnostic and treatment) and the energy released by nuclear weapons testing.
- The amount of radiation to which people are exposed due to natural sources or created by man is usually small; an emergency caused by radiation (such as a nuclear plant accident or a terrorist event) could expose people to dose small or large radiation, depending on the specific situation being presented.
- Scientists estimate that an average person in the United States receives a dose of approximately one third of a rem per year. About 80% of human exposure comes from natural sources and the remaining 20% ??comes from sources of man-made radiation, mostly X-rays used in medicine.
- Internal exposure refers to radioactive material entering the body through breathing, eating food or beverages.
- External exposure refers to exposure to a radioactive source that is outside the body.
- Contamination refers to particles of radiation that are deposited in places where they should be, for example, an object or a person’s skin.

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