How dangerous is radioactive radiation?

How dangerous is radioactive radiation?

17.03.2011

In the face of Japan's nuclear disaster, many people wonder how dangerous is radioactive radiation? Currently, the private media landscape is creating a lot of confusion. Layman's representations and reports prepared for the sensation increasingly unsettle people. Therefore, it is good to let experts have their say on the possible health consequences of atomic radiation. The medical community IPPNW offers some valuable answers here.

Science is now in agreement: There is no threshold, even the lowest doses can cause damage. There are differences between two different scenarios. Firstly, the acute high-dose radiation to which the workers and rescue personnel are exposed at the reactor, and secondly, the chronic low-level radiation that lasts for at least a decade, exposing the population as well as the emergency personnel in the vicinity of the nuclear disaster in Japan.

It should be remembered that the geographical extent of which areas are or will be affected by the radioactive fallout or cloud is far from being foreseen. This also applies to the radiation dose and the composition of the radioactive fission products.

With High dose radiation (high dose exposure) we have it from 0,5 Sievert (Sv) to do. The affected cells show severe dysfunctions. They can no longer share or even die. The severity of the immediate effects depends on the radiation dose. The immediate acute damage of the organism in acute radiation sickness include:
- Immediate weakening of the immune system; infections
- Change in the blood picture and bleeding
- Damage to the gastrointestinal tract; Vomit
- Damage to internal organs and the central nervous system

Acute damage (after minutes or hours) or sub-acute (after days or months) immediate effects start at 0.5 Sv (= 500 millisieverts) with nausea and vomiting. Between 1 and 3 Sv (1000 - 3000 Millisievert) bleeding and mucous ulcers occur. At 5 Sv (5000 millisievert), half of the people who have been irradiated die. From 10 Sv (10.000 Millisievert) there is no chance of survival.
With low radiation (low dose exposure) we have it in the range of 0 to 0.5 Sv (0 - 500 Millisievert) to do. This problem has been the subject of investigations in the past 25 years as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster as well as, for example, studies of employees in nuclear facilities. (PDF)

Possible illnesses that result as late damage as a result of low radiation are:

- Cancers including leukemia
- Genetic damage in subsequent generations, severe malformations (including Down's syndrome, stillbirths, miscarriages, "missing children")
- numerous possible non-cancer diseases (cardiovascular damage, hypertension, diabetes, brain organic changes, eye damage, susceptibility to infectious diseases)

Note: 1 Sievert (Sv) = 1000 millisievert (mSv) = 1,000,000 microsievert (µsv)

Also read:
Health: long-term consequences of radioactive radiation
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