• Question: what does radiation do to a person???

    Asked by anee01 to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      The effect of radiation is really dependent on the amount or dose that you recieve. For instance we are all exposed to ionizing radiation all the time but not so much that it harms us.

      Higher doses may cause damage to the skin or internal organs and can cause cancer.

      Radiation can be used therapeutically to kill fast dividing cells like in cancer, but it can also cause a specific syndrome where all the organs of the body shut down,the hair fails out and you eventually die.

      Usually our exposure is kept to a minimum so we a mostly okay

    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Radiation is when a source gives out energy in the form of rays. There’s lots of different kinds of radiation: electromagnetc, x-ray, microwaves, radiowaves, and most of these would not do any harm to us.

      But there are certain types of radiation that are so strong they are react with our bodies can cause damage and these are called alpha rays, beta rays, neutron rays (from nuclear energy) and gamma rays. Beta is more dangerous than Alpha, and is the most dangerous of all.

      Alpha and beta rays are so weak that they cannot pentrate your skin. However, they can be inhaled. This is one of the reasons that smoking is bad for you, because there are radioactive elements on the dried tobacco leaves. When you breathe it in, the radiation can get into your blood stream.

      gamma radiation is the type that is used in cancer therapy. They take care to try and minimise the exposure of the rest of the body and the patient wears and protective mask. Common side effects of this therapy are tiredness, sickness, drowsiness, headaches and hair loss. It can also damage the skin.

      Radiation sickness in people working with radioactive research e.g. nuclear weapons work has been recorded. Common symptoms are a drop in blood cells, vomitting, dizziness, headaches, and skin changes: blistering, redness etc. Long term exposure to radiation can cause cancer.

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      There are lots of different forms of radiation. Light is electromagnetic radiation. In large quantities (such as from a laser) it can burn your skin or damage your eyes. UV is also electromagnetic radiation. It can cause sunburn and can lead to skin cancer. Even radio waves can hurt you, and standing in front of a powerful radar is a bad thing! All of these are electromagnetic radiation. Usually, it is the heat that causes the burns and thus damage. Other times (especially with X-rays and gamma rays), it is because the radiation causes atoms in our bodies to ionise. This can lead to DNA damage, resulting in radiation sickness and cancers.

      Then there is particle radiation. This is *not* electromagnetic radiation, but instead is from subatomic particles. For example, there are the alpha particles (high speed helium nuclei) and beta particles (high speed electrons). These are forms of ionising radiation. In high doses, the chances of DNA damage and other forms of cell damage is greatly increased. This has been seen in the victims of nuclear accidents and weapons.

      We are exposed to radiation all the time… yes, even to the subatomic particles. However, the doses are low and the effects are barely noticeable.

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      Further to my answer to a previous question, you have to consider how ionising and penetrating the radiation is: for example, alpha radiation is highly ionising, but this means it loses its energy quickly and does not penetrate well (it can be stopped with paper or aluminium foil, but you wouldn’t want to swallow an alpha emitter). However, gamma radiation does not ionise matter very much and it is hugely penetrative — this can do a lot of damage to organic tissue.

      Typical symptoms of radiation sickness include: low white blood cell count, anaemia (low red blood cell count), nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and abdominal pain. You can even receive radiation burns to the skins from acute doses.

      It’s all about radiation dosage and how long you have been exposed to it.

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