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negative impacts of radiation essay
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The Effects of Radiation Radiation is the emission of electromagnetic energy that is given off in the form of high speed particles that cause ionization. During ionization radiation hits and knocks electrons from an atom creating charged ions. Due to the electron being stripped away from the atom this break the chemical bond. Living tissue within the human body is damaged and attempts to repair it but sometimes the damage is beyond repair. Radiation can either be ionizing or non-ionizing depending on how the radiation itself affects matter. Non-ionizing radiation includes visible light, heat, microwaves, and radio waves. This particular type of radiation deposits energy in the materials that it passes through but cannot break molecular bonds or remove electrons from atoms. Ionizing radiation on the other hand has enough energy to break molecular bonds and displace atoms. The displaced electron creates two charged particles known as ions which can cause changes in living cells. The amount of radiation and the duration of radiation exposure is what ultimately causes health issues/effects. There are two types of health effects pertaining to radiation known as stochastic and non-stochastic. Stochastic effects refer to radiation exposure given over long periods of time at low levels referred to as chronic. Non-stochastic is short-term exposure but at high levels which is referred to as acute. Stochastic effects are those that are associated with cancer. This particular type of exposure increases the likelihood of an individual developing a chronic illness such as cancer. Cancer is considered by most people the primary health effect from radiation exposure (EPA, 2012). Basically cancer is the uncontrolled grow... ... middle of paper ... ...me as primary barriers except for they are 1/32 inches thick lead and both are permanently affixed to the floor. The EPA sets limits on the amount of exposure people can receive. “Health physicists generally agree on limiting a person’s exposure beyond background radiation to about 100 mrem per year from all sources (natural or manmade).” For persons working as LXMO’s the annual MPD is 5 rems or 5000 mrems. The annual MPD dose for pregnant LXMO’s is 0.5 rems. The amount a technician receives is monitored monthly through the use of dosimeters. References EPA. (2012). Radiation Protection. Retrieved on May 15, 2014 from http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/health_effects.html NCR. (2013). Radiation Basics. Retrieved on May 15, 2014 from http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/health-effects/radiation-basics.html
Radiation exposure can affect children as well an children have the risk of being the most harmfully effected by radiation because their body absorbs substances differently also their bodies can or are more likely to get certain kinds of cancers from too much exposure, “they are also closer to the ground, where radioactive fallouts settle.”
There are essentially three main types of cancer treatments; surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Surgery allows doctors to effectively remove tumors from a clear plane. Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat the tumor; but often the drugs affect other healthy cells in the process. Using radiation as a treatment can be either precise or vague. Many health stigmas can come from the vague forms of radiation or conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation treats both the unhealthy and healthy cells, therefore exposing healthy cells to harmful radiation (Radiation Oncology, 2011, p.6). When healthy cells are exposed to gamma radiation they are also exposed to ionizing radiation. The ionization can cause “breakage of chemical bonds or oxidization (addition of oxygen atoms)” in a cell; the main impact of this is on a cell’s DNA, if two strands of DNA break it can result in “mutations, chromosome aberrations, ...
The definition of radiation is the emission of energy electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause ionization. One of the scientist who discovered radiation was Henri Becquerel, the way the French scientist discovered radioactivity was when we was conducting an experiment with uranium-bearing crystals to sun light, then put it on a photographic plate, he then had set off his experiment for a few days because it was very cloudy and the sun wasn’t shining so Henri put the sample uranium and the plate the same sealed drawer. When he went to get the uranium and photographic plate, Becquerel then discovered that the crystals left a clear image on the photographic plate, Henri wondered how that could happen because there was no energy to produce the image but Henri then discovered that a piece of mineral which contained uranium could produce its image on a photographic plate without light, Henri realized that it was radioactivity. Ernest Rutherford among his many accomplishments one of them were the way he took part in radioactivity by...
Radiation therapy is the utilization of radiation in order to treat diseases like cancer as well as to detect other ailments that someone may have. Since the development of radiation therapy many advancements have been made both to the process of using radiation itself, which in turn increased its effectiveness for medical use, and to the study of other possible uses for radiation. The concepts behind radiation therapy are not overly complicated, but they are still revolutionary ideas that have greatly impacted society and people’s wellness.
Radiation therapy is the use of “high-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, or protons, used to destroy or damage cancer cells” (Hage 1). The human body consists of a large number of cells which grow and multiply every day, however when cancer cells arise they multiply faster than a normal cell would. Cancer is considered hundreds of different diseases because there are so many types of them and is identified by its abnormal cell growth and ability to migrate throughout the body (Aggarwal). Radiation therapy helps with breaking down cancer cells and eventually kills them, stopping the cell division of these harmful cells. In the attempt to prevent these cancer cells to continue to multiply, healthy cells may also be destroyed but luckily radiation therapy has different methods to target the cells it wants to kill. Ideally, doctors only want to destroy the harmful cells but radiation has
There is a range of safety concerns in regards to nuclear power with one of these being the effects of radiation resulting from a nuclear accident. Research shows that there is a link between exposure to radiation and the development of cancer (Zakaib 2011) whist Preston (2012) express’s concerns that people exposed to radiation may not be able to see the effects of radiation exposure for several years as was the case in Chernobyl. Furthermore, people are unable to move back into the vicinity of reactors that have been involved in an incident due to their fear of radiation as is the chase in Fukishima (Cyranoski & Brumfiel 2011) and in the areas surrounding Chernobyl (Berton 2006). Governments are increasingly becoming more stringent in the levels of radiation in which people are exposed to with this evident in Fukishma, where the Japanese government evacuated people living within a 30km radius of the plant (Evacuation Orders and Restricted Areas n.d.). As a result of nuclear accidents and the resulting radiation, support for nuclear power has diminished due to safety concerns.
We are exposed to small and non-lethal doses of radiation everyday. The type of radiation that is very lethal to humans and all other life is gamma radiation. This type of radiation, if you are exposed to it, alters the molecular structure of your DNA and can lead to mutations in your offspring and can lead to diseases like cancer. Alpha and Beta particles are usually deflected by your skin and they aren’t as harmful. Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation are types of ionizing radiation which means they can remove the electrons in the atoms of your cells, which can cause cells to mutate. Radiation is can be useful in our everyday lives. It is used in X-ray machines to look at the bones inside your body and a lead vest is put around you to protect you from the radiation so you are not fully exposed to it.
Radiation is excess energy, which travels through space in the form of heat, light, sound, microwaves, radio waves and x-rays. Low radioactive substances can be found everywhere.
The earth was created 4.6 billion years ago and ever since then, radiation has existed on earth. No matter where you are or where you go, radiation will always be present. Radiation is defined as the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles. High amounts of radiation may cause some serious side effects such as various types of cancer such as skin cancer, lung cancer and bone marrow cancer which can turn into acute leukemia which affects our white blood cells. However, not all types of radiation will cause damage to your body. Non-ionizing radiation is any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules to completely remove an electron from an atom or
Cell phones were invented by Dr. Martin Cooper who led a team of developers at Motorola and made the first cell phone call in April 3, 1973 at Motorola. Cell phones are handheld devices used by many people these days. Cell phones are a big help to the people using it. Cell phones allow you to keep in touch with family and friends around the world. Mobiles phones use and transmit waves to receive and send signals and let out radiation. However, there is a bit of a problem with these devices, they give off radiation, which may or may not be dangerous. Radiation means the discharge of energy electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause ionization. Radiation that can produce ions when it interacts with matter is called ionizing. Ions are charged particles that are produced when electrons are removed from their positions in the atoms. Alpha particles, beta particles, x-ray particles and gamma rays are forms of ionizing radiation. However, radiation that is not capable of producing ions in matter is known as nonionizing radiation. Radiation is energy that moves through space or matter at a very high speed. Energy can be in the form of particles, such as alpha or beta particles, which are emitted from radioactive materials, or waves such as light, heat, radio waves, microwaves, x-rays and gamma rays. Subatomic means of, relating to, or being a particle making up an atom or a process occurring within atoms Electromagnetic means kind of radiation including visible light, radio waves, gamma rays, and X-rays, in which electric and magnetic fields vary ...
Firstly, radiation contributes to global warming and cancer in human bodies. Nuclear powering medically dangerous, it sends off radioisotopes such as Iodine 131, Strontium
The energy in ionizing radiation can cause chemical changes in the the cells that can lead to damaging them. Most of the cells can either permanently or temporarily become abnormal or they can just die. Radiation can cause cancer by damaging the DNA in the body. The damage of the cells can also depend on how long the organs are exposed (environmental protection agency, 2017, unknown). If someone has many exposures at one time that radiation in the body keeps adding on. As well as if its only a little bit of exposure in on day and years later you get exposed again it keeps adding on the radiation will never leave the body. Having radiation in your body doesn’t affect you right away but as you get older it starts to show and you feel it. Chronic exposure is when someone is exposed many time for long periods. When this happens the type of effects it will carry is having harmful generic change, cancer, tumors, and even cataracts. Partial health effects can also depend on if it was internal or external exposure. Internal exposure is when either by drinking, breathing, eating and even an injection cause radiation to get inside your body. External exposure is when taking an x-ray out of your body and letting it go through letting all the energy go as it goes in (environmental protection agency, 2017, unknown). In the dental world radiation gets into the patients when we take x-rays on there teeth. In order to avoid to much radiation on them we put a lead apron on them and make sure to cover their thyroid which is the most common way of getting cancer when taking an x-ray. When we take the x-ray we stand behind a wall at least 6 feet away to avoid ourself from getting
In nature radioactive material occurs either as naturally in the form of radioactive isotopes in rocks or as a consequence of human release such as during nuclear testing, normal maintenance of nuclear power plants and nuclear accidents such as those at Chernobyl and Fukushima Dallchi. Natural level of radiation sometime exceeds low baseline levels in uncontaminated areas by several hundred fold (Ghiassi-Nejad et al. 2002) resulting in significant rates of diseases in human (Lubin and Boice, 1997) and to other organisms can result in reproductive failure and death (Lubin and Boice, 1997; Ghiassi-Nejad et al. 2002).
To save words we not go into the basic details of these radiations but these radiations make the radioisotopes our friend or foe. These radiations revolve round the issue of their use and disposal. Interestingly, both use and disposal are issues of concern. Disposal is an issue because the waste is non-biodegradable and the harmful radiations from them could cause cancer and alter genes in the DNA etc. The use of radioactivity is by itself an issue. Is it safe to use? Where shall the nuclear power plant be located? Where will the waste go?