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The ICRP 2007 standard values for relative effectiveness are given below. The higher radiation weighting factor for a type of radiation, the more damaging it is, and this is incorporated into the calculation to convert from gray to sievert units. The radiation weighting factor for neutrons has been revised over time and remains controversial.
W R is the radiation weighting factor defined by regulation. Thus for example, an absorbed dose of 1 Gy by alpha particles will lead to an equivalent dose of 20 Sv, and an equivalent dose of radiation is estimated to have the same biological effect as an equal amount of absorbed dose of gamma rays, which is given a weighting factor of 1.
Recognized effects of higher acute radiation doses are described in more detail in the article on radiation poisoning.Although the International System of Units (SI) defines the sievert (Sv) as the unit of radiation dose equivalent, chronic radiation levels and standards are still often given in units of millirems (mrem), where 1 mrem equals 1/1,000 of a rem and 1 rem equals 0.01 Sv.
To obtain an effective dose, the calculated absorbed organ dose D T is first corrected for the radiation type using factor W R to give a weighted average of the equivalent dose quantity H T received in irradiated body tissues, and the result is further corrected for the tissues or organs being irradiated using factor W T, to produce the ...
Since different radiation types have different biological effects for the same deposited energy, a corrective radiation weighting factor W R, which is dependent on the radiation type and on the target tissue, is applied to convert the absorbed dose measured in the unit gray to determine the equivalent dose. The result is given the unit sievert.
For comparison, radiation levels inside the United States Capitol are 85 mrem/yr (0.85 mSv/yr), close to the regulatory limit, because of the uranium content of the granite structure. [14] The NRC sets the annual total effective dose of full body radiation, or total body radiation (TBR), allowed for radiation workers 5,000 mrem (5 rem).
A dose of under 100 rad will typically produce no immediate symptoms other than blood changes. A dose of 100 to 200 rad delivered to the entire body in less than a day may cause acute radiation syndrome (ARS), but is usually not fatal. Doses of 200 to 1,000 rad delivered in a few hours will cause serious illness, with poor prognosis at the ...
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