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Radiation damage is the effect of ionizing radiation on physical objects including non-living structural materials. It can be either detrimental or beneficial for materials. Radiobiology is the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, including the health effects of radiation in humans.
Radiation poisoning, also called "radiation sickness" or a "creeping dose", is a form of damage to organ tissue due to excessive exposure to ionizing radiation. The term is generally used to refer to acute problems caused by a large dosage of radiation in a short period, though this also has occurred with long-term exposure to low-level radiation.
This may result in infections, due to a low number of white blood cells, bleeding, due to a lack of platelets, and anemia, due to too few red blood cells in circulation. [3] These changes can be detected by blood tests after receiving a whole-body acute dose as low as 0.25 grays (25 rad ), though they might never be felt by the patient if the ...
Exposure to ELF waves can induce an electric current. Because the human body is conductive, electric currents and resulting voltages differences typically accumulate on the skin but do not reach interior tissues. [22] People can start to perceive high-voltage charges as tingling when hair or clothing in contact with the skin stands up or ...
The human body cannot sense ionizing radiation except in very high doses, but the effects of ionization can be used to characterize the radiation. Parameters of interest include disintegration rate, particle flux, particle type, beam energy, kerma, dose rate, and radiation dose.
The radiation warning symbol (trefoil) Alpha radiation consists of helium-4 nucleus and is readily stopped by a sheet of paper. Beta radiation, consisting of electrons, is halted by an aluminium plate. Gamma radiation is eventually absorbed as it penetrates a dense material. Lead is good at absorbing gamma radiation, due to its density.
Radiolysis is the dissociation of molecules by ionizing radiation.It is the cleavage of one or several chemical bonds resulting from exposure to high-energy flux.The radiation in this context is associated with ionizing radiation; radiolysis is therefore distinguished from, for example, photolysis of the Cl 2 molecule into two Cl-radicals, where (ultraviolet or visible spectrum) light is used.
The effects of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident are widely agreed to be very low by scientists in the relevant fields. The American Nuclear Society concluded that average local radiation exposure was equivalent to a chest X-ray and maximum local exposure equivalent to less than a year's background radiation. [1]