A millisievert is a unit that measures the biological risk of exposure to radiation.
Per year, a man absorbs between 110 to 150 millisieverts radiation from various sources. Acute radiation sickness begins at 1,000 millisieverts.
Nuclear radiation is part of our lives. Sunlight is a natural radioactive source, the sand on the beach, when television is on. Living in a masonry home (0.07 mSv), chest X-ray (0.1 mSv), cosmic radiation at sea level (0.26 mSv); whole-body scan (10 mSv), between reactors at Fukushima Daiichi (400 mSv), firefigthers at Chernobyl in 1986 (16,000 mSv).
In a nuclear explosion or some accidents with radioactive sources, people get exposed to radiation throughout the body, but the doses may be different in each tissue. Each body tissue reacts in a certain way.
The somatic effects are classified into immediate and delayed based on a limit, adopted by convention of 60 days. The most important of the immediate effects of radiation after whole body exposure to relatively high doses is the Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). The delayed effect is of greater relevance to malignancy by radiotherapy, which only appears many years after irradiation.
The damages that radiation can cause in man are:
- Absorption from 0 to 25 mSv - nothing happens.
- Absorption from 25 to 50 mSv - reduction of white blood cells.
- Absorption 100 to 200 mSv – nausea, intense reduction of white blood cells.
- Absorption of 500 mSv - 50% probability of death in 30 days.
- Prevention of cell division.
- Damage to cell division.
- Changes in the genetic structure of reproductive cells.
- Total destruction of the cell.
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5 comentários:
I was already aware of the negative effects radiation could have on humans, but it's shocking to have a look at the actual damages it can cause, and to see how exposed and endangered people from Japan (for example) are right now.
I was already aware that radiation could have negative effects on humans, but it is shocking to have a look at the actual damages it can actually cause, not to mention how horrifying it is to think that there are probably a lot of people in Japan right now exposed to these risks.
This post was very interesting. I was aware of the risks of radiation but i hadn't the knowledge of what impact it may have in our life. Now i know it can be very dangerous, but at the same time Portugal doesn't have any nuclear power plant so I'm not really concerned with this subject. However other european countries such as France have a lot of Nuclear power plants and if in the future something causes an accident, the radiation may reach Portugal and that's a serious subject to be concerned!
João Ferreira, 10ºA
"In my opinion, people should start paying more attention to radiation issue. The truth is that everyone is somehow exposed to radition! Even more concerning is the radition from nuclear explosion or some accidents with radioactive sources, most of these cases causes extremely painfull and deadly deseases. Nowadays it is even more probable to get sick from the exposure to radition, since there are more and more nuclear industries. To sum up, I think that we should start looking at the effects of radition, maybe we would realise how bad it is for our lives."
Pedro Farinha
I have to agree with João, altought Portugal doesnt have a nuclear plant, many neighbour european countries do, so it is an imminent danger...
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