IONIZING AND

NONIONIZING RADIATION
Chapter 8
Presented by Professor Arias
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
• Define the terms ionizing
radiation and
nonionizing radiation.
• State the differences
between ionizing and
nonionizing radiation.
• Describe sources and
types of ionizing and
nonionizing radiation.
• Discuss the health
effects of exposure to
ionizing and nonionizing
radiation.
• Describe major incidents
in which the population
was exposed
unexpectedly to ionizing
radiation.
 LET’S TALK
RADIATION
• Radiation: Refers to energy that
travels through space; includes
both:
• Ionizing (removes an electron)
• Non-ionizing (adds energy to
organic molecule)
• Watch this:
[Link]
ch?v=R_RcytVWBrg&feature=
emb_logo
 RADIATION
MYTHS # 1
• ALL RADIATION IS BAD
• Various forms of radiation are
safely used in a variety of
applications, including food
production, smoke detectors, cell
phones.
• Radiation is all around you and is
part of the natural environment.
• We mimic effects of natural
radiation – lights, tanning beds
 RADIATION
MYTHS # 2
• Medical Scans Can Impact Fertility
• The risk to fertility for men or women
from radiological imaging such as X-
rays and CT scans is essentially zero,
and there are no known cases of
infertility caused by these exams. Even
so, since radiation accumulates in your
body over the years, during x-ray
exams and CT scans, you will wear a
lead-lined apron to protect your
reproductive organs and to reduce the
amount of radiation you absorb.
 RADIATION MYTH
#3
• Traditional X-rays are no longer necessary
• X-rays remain the most common
imaging test performed in the United
States. There are thousands of X-ray
machines in use in hospitals, medical
and dental offices, and clinics. X-rays
remain the best test to examine bone,
tooth, and some soft tissue injuries.
• True that we have developed other
imaging techniques: ultrasound, nuclear
magnetic resonance
 RADIATION MYTH # 4
• Medical Radiation Will Make You Radioactive
• Being irradiated does not make you radioactive, although it can
cause ionization and generation of free radicals
• Some types of radiation imaging (fluoroscopy) and treatment
(brachytherapy) involve uptake of radioactive materials and
these will make you radioactive until they clear out of the body
 TYPES OF
RADIATION
• Non-ionizing radiation
classified as the forms of
radiation on the left half of
the electromagnetic
spectrum
NON-IONIZING (N-I)
• N-I energy moves atoms around in a
molecule or cause them to vibrate, but not
enough to knock electrons out of atoms.
• Potential health effects include acute
symptoms such as pain, swelling due to eye
injury, cancer.
• Examples:
• Sound waves, Visible light,
Microwaves, Radio frequency, Optical
and ultraviolet light, Infrared (heat), Low
frequency radiation (electric power
lines).
 IONIZING
RADIATION (I-R)
• Has adverse health risks.
• Radiation that “has so much energy it can
knock electrons out of atoms, a process
known as ionization.”
• Sources include:
• Radioactive elements – when they
decay; they give off alpha and beta
particles and gamma rays.
• Cosmic particles from outer space.
• X-ray machines.
 X-rays and other
Medical tests and
procedures used therapies
in medicine

Consumer products

ANTHROPOGENIC
(MAN-MADE) Radioactive substances used in
SOURCES OF industry
IONIZING
RADIATION
Nuclear power generators

Radioactivity from the

production and detonation
(primarily for testing purposes)
of nuclear weapons
 BACKGROUND
RADIATION
• Generally, it refers to ionizing radiation.
• Present on earth always and the majority occurs naturally
from minerals.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials in the ground, soil,
and water produce background radiation.
• Consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-
products enriched with radioactive elements found
in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and
plutonium and any of their decay products, such
as radium and radon.
• Large variances in natural background radiation
levels from place to place, as well as changes in
same location over time.
 NATURAL SOURCES
OF
IONIZING RADIATION

Cosmic radiation from space (mostly from the sun) also

contributes to background radiation around us.
• The amount of cosmic radiation generally increases with
elevation – higher the altitude, higher the dose.
• That is why those living in Denver, Colorado (altitude of 5,280
feet) receive a higher annual radiation dose from cosmic
radiation than someone living at sea level (altitude of 0 feet).
• Also makes cosmic radiation an occupational hazard for airline
employees.
NATURAL
SOURCES OF
IONIZING
RADIATION
Radiation from geologic formations
(rocks) that contain radioactive
elements (radioelements).
• Uranium, from which
radon gas is formed as a
decay product.
• 50% of all background
radiation comes from this.
• Radon – colorless,
odorless gas originating
from radioactive decay of
uranium.
 NATURAL
SOURCES OF
IONIZING
RADIATION
• Naturally occurring on Earth and in our bodies.
• Uranium and Thorium naturally found in the
earth are called primordial (existing since earths
formation).
• Trace amounts of Uranium, Thorium and their
decay products can be found everywhere.
• Traces of radioactive materials can be found in the
body mainly naturally occurring Potassium-40.
• Potassium-40 is found in food, soil, and
water we ingest.
• Our bodies contain small amounts of radiation
because the body metabolizes non-radioactive
and radioactive forms of potassium and other
elements in the same way.
 UNNATURAL SOURCES OF
IONIZING RADIATION – FISSION
Man-made sources – only about 1% of all radiation exposure
comes from this form (human activity)
• A-bombs – Hiroshima, Nagasaki
• Trace amounts of radioactive elements have dispersed in the
environment from nuclear weapon tests and accidents at
nuclear power plants:
• Chernobyl, Ukraine
• Three Mile Island, PA
• Fukushima, Japan
Nuclear Fission
 TYPES OF IONIZING
RADIATION
• Particles
1. α particles consist of 2 protons and 2 neutrons
• Same a Helium (He) nucleus
• Heavy compared to beta and gamma radiation, travels the slowest.
• Highly ionizing – an electron that has lost or gained an electron,
therefore the ion becomes charged.
• Atoms are neutral (equal # of protons (+) charged; electrons (-)
charged).
• In an ion, the atom has lost an electron and becomes positively
charged ion.
• A thin sheet of paper can stop alpha particles.
2. β particles – High energy electron, stopped by thin sheet of
metal.
 TYPES OF IONIZING
RADIATION
• Electromagnetic waves
Gamma (γ) rays – Very high-energy electromagnetic radiation
• Least ionizing, most penetrating; lead or concrete can stop it.
 AVERAGE US
DOSES AND
SOURCES
• According to the
National Council on
Radiation Protection
and Measurements
(NCRP) average
annual radiation dose
per person is the U.S
is 320 millirem.
WHERE DOES RADIATION
EXPOSURE COME FROM?
• Radiation that is always in the environment.
• Slight majority of background radiation occurs
naturally.
• Small fraction comes from man-made elements.
• Radioactive gases Radon and Thoron are created
when other naturally occurring elements undergo
radioactive decay.
• Space (cosmic radiation).
• Naturally occurring radioactive minerals:
• Internal (in your body).
• Terrestrial (in the ground).
• 48% of the average American’s dose comes from
medical procedures.
• This total does NOT include the dose from radiation
therapy used in the treatment of cancer, which is
typically many times larger.
 RADIOACTIVITY
• Occurs during radioactive decay – loss of components of the
nucleus, causes change from one element into another
• “Reduction in activity of a quantity of material by disintegration
of its atoms.”
• Radioactive decay – Represents how many atoms in the
material decay (change) within a given time period.
• Units of measurement for radioactivity: Becquerel (Bq,
international unit) and Curie (Ci, U.S. unit)
 EXPOSURE

• “Describes the amount of radiation

traveling through the air.”
• Many types of radiation
monitors/instruments [e.g., Geiger
counters and film badges] measure
exposure.
• Detects alpha and beta particles,
and gamma rays.
• Widely used as a hand-held
instrument.
• Coulomb/kilogram (C/kg,
international unit) and roentgen
(R, U.S. unit).
 INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
(SI UNITS)

• Absorbed dose describes the amount absorbed by an object or

person.
• Gray (Gy) (Corresponds to absorbed dose)
• The U.S. unit for absorbed dose is the Rad
• One Gray = 100 Rads
 EFFECTIVE DOSE
• Effective dose describes amount of radiation absorbed by person, adjusted to account for type of
radiation received and effect on organs and organ systems.
• Unit used for effective dose is Sievert (Sv), an international unit used to measure effective dose.
• U.S. unit is Rem (Roentgen Equivalent in Man/WoMan)
• 1 sievert = 100 rems
• More commonly, dose is measured in much smaller units:
• Millisieverts or Millirems.
• 1 millisievert = 1/1000th of a sievert.
• Millirem = U.S. unit used to measure effective dose.
• 1 millirem = 0.001 rem
• 1 mrem = 1/1000th of a rem
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE
AMOUNT OF RADIATION
EXPOSURE

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME DISTANCE FROM THE DEGREE OF

EXPOSED TO THE RADIOACTIVE SOURCE RADIOACTIVITY (RATE
RADIOACTIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY EMISSION)
OF A RADIOACTIVE
MATERIAL
 NONSTOCHASTIC
• Acute Health Effects of
Ionizing Radiation EFFECTS
• Tissue burns or damage.
• Radiation sickness -
Cumulative effect of damage
on a human body that has
been exposed to radiation
(e.g., nausea, weakness,
and loss of hair)
• Low vs. High levels
• Low levels: usually does
not produce immediately
detectable harm.
• High levels: Capable of
producing fatal injuries.
 STOCHASTIC EFFECTS
• Stochastic
• An increased probability of the occurrence of an adverse health
event.
• Associated with low levels of exposure to radiation over long
periods.
• Carcinogenesis and genetic damage such as changes in DNA
are possible stochastic effects of radiation exposure.
IR AND DNA
 EXAMPLES OF
NONIONIZING RADIATION

• Extremely low frequency (ELF)

radiation.
• Example: High tension power
lines.
• AM, FM, VHF-TV radio waves
• Microwave radiation.
 EXAMPLES OF
NONIONIZING RADIATION

• Infrared radiation (IRA,

IRB, IRC)
• Source of heat in heat
lamps used for
keeping food warm.
• Visible light radiation.
• Ultraviolet radiation
(UVA, UVB, UVC).
 SOURCES OF ULTRAVIOLET
RADIATION (UVR)
• Welders’ arcs
• Lamps used for tanning beds
• Some flood lamps used in photography
• Halogen desk lamps
• Lightning
• Electrical sparks
• Sunbathing
UVR

• Subdivided depending on
wavelength of light:
• UVA
• UVB
• UVC
• UVB is considered most
harmful to human health.
 THE ULTRAVIOLET (UV) INDEX

Provides forecast of Predicts UV intensity Calculated for most ZIP

expected risk of levels (scale of 0 to 11+) codes across US
overexposure to UV
radiation from the sun.
Low indicates a minimal risk of
overexposure.
11+ means an extreme risk.
EFFECTS OF UV
RADIATION
• Temporary conditions:
• Burns
• Temporary blinding
• Long-term consequences:
• Photoaging of the skin
• Nonmelanoma skin
cancer (NMSC)
• Malignant melanoma
(MM)
• Retinal damage
• Lens opacities
UV LIGHT
AND DNA
 ELF (extremely low frequency)
radiation
Inconsistent reports of
association with childhood
No credible mechanism
leukemia, brain cancer
identified.
(most common forms of
childhood cancer).

HEALTH
EFFECTS OF
NONIONIZING
RADIATION
Higher frequency levels (i.e.,
radiofrequency and
microwave radiation)

Causes heating of the body.

SOURCES OF
EXPOSURE
TO ELF (50–60
HERTZ)
• Electric power poles.
• Wiring in the walls of
buildings.
• Some electrical appliances.
 ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELDS EMITTED
FROM ELF
RADIATION
• Electricity that flows through
transmission lines may
produce electromagnetic
fields (EMFs).
• Research literature suggests
that findings are inconsistent,
not definitive, with respect to
EMF exposure and cancer.
 RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION
AND CELL PHONES
• Cell phones are very low-power apparatus.
• Transmit in the range of 900–1,800 MHz
• Ubiquitousness of cells phones:
• 91% of US population used cell phones (2013 survey).
• Widespread use means even small adverse health effects
could have substantial implications for population health.
• Cell phone antenna banks are a source of RF radiation.