Background radiation

Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a
particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources.

Background radiation originates from a variety of sources, both natural and artificial. These include both
cosmic radiation and environmental radioactivity from naturally occurring radioactive materials (such as
radon and radium), as well as man-made medical X-rays, fallout from nuclear weapons testing and
nuclear accidents.

Contents
Definition
Background dose rate examples
Natural background radiation
Terrestrial sources
Airborne sources
Cosmic radiation
Food and water
Areas with high natural background radiation
Photoelectric
Neutron background
Artificial background radiation
Atmospheric nuclear testing
Occupational exposure
Nuclear accidents
Nuclear fuel cycle
Other
Other sources of dose uptake
Medical
Consumer items
Radiation metrology
See also
References
External links

Definition
Background radiation is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as "Dose or dose rate (or an
observed measure related to the dose or dose rate) attributable to all sources other than the one(s)
specified.[1] So a distinction is made between dose which is already in a location, which is defined here
as being "background", and the dose due to a deliberately introduced and specified source. This is
important where radiation measurements are taken of a specified radiation source, where the existing
background may affect this measurement. An example would be measurement of radioactive
contamination in a gamma radiation background, which could increase the total reading above that
expected from the contamination alone.

However, if no radiation source is specified as being of concern, then the total radiation dose
measurement at a location is generally called the background radiation, and this is usually the case
where an ambient dose rate is measured for environmental purposes.

Background dose rate examples

Background radiation varies with location and time, and the following table gives examples:

Average annual human exposure to ionizing radiation in millisieverts (mSv) per year

Radiation source World[2] US[3] Japan[4] Remark

Inhalation of air 1.26 2.28 0.40 mainly from radon, depends on indoor accumulation

Ingestion of food & water 0.29 0.28 0.40 (K-40, C-14, etc.)

Terrestrial radiation from

0.48 0.21 0.40 depends on soil and building material
ground
Cosmic radiation from
0.39 0.33 0.30 depends on altitude
space
sub total (natural) 2.40 3.10 1.50 sizeable population groups receive 10–20 mSv

worldwide figure excludes radiotherapy;

Medical 0.60 3.00 2.30
US figure is mostly CT scans and nuclear medicine.

Consumer items – 0.13 cigarettes, air travel, building materials, etc.

Atmospheric nuclear peak of 0.11 mSv in 1963 and declining since; higher near
0.005 – 0.01
testing sites

worldwide average to workers only is 0.7 mSv, mostly due to

Occupational exposure 0.005 0.005 0.01 radon in mines;[2]
US is mostly due to medical and aviation workers.[3]

peak of 0.04 mSv in 1986 and declining since; higher near

Chernobyl accident 0.002 – 0.01
site

Nuclear fuel cycle 0.0002 0.001 up to 0.02 mSv near sites; excludes occupational exposure

Other – 0.003 Industrial, security, medical, educational, and research

sub total (artificial) 0.61 3.14 2.33

Total 3.01 6.24 3.83 millisieverts per year

Natural background radiation

Radioactive material is found throughout nature. Detectable amounts occur naturally in soil, rocks, water,
air, and vegetation, from which it is inhaled and ingested into the body. In addition to this internal
exposure, humans also receive external exposure from radioactive materials that remain outside the body
and from cosmic radiation from space. The worldwide average natural dose to humans is about 2.4 mSv
(240 mrem) per year.[2] This is four times the worldwide average artificial radiation exposure, which in
2008 amounted to about 0.6 millisieverts (60 mrem) per year. In some rich countries, like the US and
Japan, artificial exposure is, on average, greater than the natural
exposure, due to greater access to medical imaging. In Europe,
average natural background exposure by country ranges from
under 2 mSv (200 mrem) annually in the United Kingdom to
more than 7 mSv (700 mrem) annually for some groups of people
in Finland.[5]

The International Atomic Energy Agency states:

"Exposure to radiation from natural sources is an

inescapable feature of everyday life in both working
and public environments. This exposure is in most
cases of little or no concern to society, but in certain
situations the introduction of health protection
measures needs to be considered, for example when
working with uranium and thorium ores and other
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM).
These situations have become the focus of greater
attention by the Agency in recent years."[6]
The weather station outside of the
Atomic Testing Museum on a hot
summer day. Displayed background
gamma radiation level is 9.8 μR/h
(0.82 mSv/a) This is very close to the
world average background radiation
of 0.87 mSv/a from cosmic and
terrestrial sources.

Terrestrial sources
Terrestrial radiation, for the purpose of the table above, only
includes sources that remain external to the body. The major
radionuclides of concern are potassium, uranium and thorium and
their decay products, some of which, like radium and radon are
intensely radioactive but occur in low concentrations. Most of
these sources have been decreasing, due to radioactive decay
since the formation of the Earth, because there is no significant
amount currently transported to the Earth. Thus, the present
activity on earth from uranium-238 is only half as much as it
originally was because of its 4.5 billion year half-life, and
potassium-40 (half-life 1.25 billion years) is only at about 8% of
original activity. But during the time that humans have existed the
amount of radiation has decreased very little.

Many shorter half-life (and thus more intensely radioactive)

isotopes have not decayed out of the terrestrial environment Cloud chambers used by early
because of their on-going natural production. Examples of these researchers first detected cosmic
rays and other background radiation.
are radium-226 (decay product of thorium-230 in decay chain of
They can be used to visualize the
uranium-238) and radon-222 (a decay product of radium-226 in background radiation
said chain).

Thorium and uranium (and their daughters) primarily undergo alpha and beta decay, and aren't easily
detectable. However, many of their daughter products are strong gamma emitters. Thorium-232 is
detectable via a 239 keV peak from lead-212, 511, 583 and 2614 keV from thallium-208, and 911 and
969 keV from actinium-228. Uranium-238 manifests as 609, 1120, and 1764 keV peaks of bismuth-214
(cf. the same peak for atmospheric radon). Potassium-40 is detectable directly via its 1461 keV gamma
peak.[7]
The level over the sea and other large bodies of water tends to be about a tenth of the terrestrial
background. Conversely, coastal areas (and areas by the side of fresh water) may have an additional
contribution from dispersed sediment.[7]

Airborne sources
The biggest source of natural background radiation is airborne radon, a radioactive gas that emanates
from the ground. Radon and its isotopes, parent radionuclides, and decay products all contribute to an
average inhaled dose of 1.26 mSv/a (millisievert per year). Radon is unevenly distributed and varies with
weather, such that much higher doses apply to many areas of the world, where it represents a significant
health hazard. Concentrations over 500 times the world average have been found inside buildings in
Scandinavia, the United States, Iran, and the Czech Republic.[8] Radon is a decay product of uranium,
which is relatively common in the Earth's crust, but more concentrated in ore-bearing rocks scattered
around the world. Radon seeps out of these ores into the atmosphere or into ground water or infiltrates
into buildings. It can be inhaled into the lungs, along with its decay products, where they will reside for a
period of time after exposure.

Although radon is naturally occurring, exposure can be enhanced or diminished by human activity,
notably house construction. A poorly sealed basement in an otherwise well insulated house can result in
the accumulation of radon within the dwelling, exposing its residents to high concentrations. The
widespread construction of well insulated and sealed homes in the northern industrialized world has led
to radon becoming the primary source of background radiation in some localities in northern North
America and Europe. Basement sealing and suction ventilation reduce exposure. Some building
materials, for example lightweight concrete with alum shale, phosphogypsum and Italian tuff, may
emanate radon if they contain radium and are porous to gas.[8]

Radiation exposure from radon is indirect. Radon has a short half-life (4 days) and decays into other solid
particulate radium-series radioactive nuclides. These radioactive particles are inhaled and remain lodged
in the lungs, causing continued exposure. Radon is thus assumed to be the second leading cause of lung
cancer after smoking, and accounts for 15,000 to 22,000 cancer deaths per year in the US alone.[9]
However, the discussion about the opposite experimental results is still going on.[10]

About 100,000 Bq/m3 of radon was found in Stanley Watras's basement in 1984.[11][12] He and his
neighbours in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, United States may hold the record for the most radioactive
dwellings in the world. International radiation protection organizations estimate that a committed dose
may be calculated by multiplying the equilibrium equivalent concentration (EEC) of radon by a factor of
3 3
8 to 9 nSv·m
Bq·h
and the EEC of thoron by a factor of 40 nSv·m
Bq·h
.[2]

Most of the atmospheric background is caused by radon and its decay products. The gamma spectrum
shows prominent peaks at 609, 1120, and 1764 keV, belonging to bismuth-214, a radon decay product.
The atmospheric background varies greatly with wind direction and meteorological conditions. Radon
also can be released from the ground in bursts and then form "radon clouds" capable of traveling tens of
kilometers.[7]

Cosmic radiation
The Earth and all living things on it are constantly bombarded by
radiation from outer space. This radiation primarily consists of
positively charged ions from protons to iron and larger nuclei
derived from outside the Solar System. This radiation interacts
with atoms in the atmosphere to create an air shower of
secondary radiation, including X-rays, muons, protons, alpha
particles, pions, electrons, and neutrons. The immediate dose
from cosmic radiation is largely from muons, neutrons, and
electrons, and this dose varies in different parts of the world Estimate of the maximum dose of
based largely on the geomagnetic field and altitude. For example, radiation received at an altitude of 12
the city of Denver in the United States (at 1650 meters elevation) km 20 January 2005, following a
receives a cosmic ray dose roughly twice that of a location at sea violent solar flare. The doses are
level.[13] This radiation is much more intense in the upper expressed in microsieverts per hour.
troposphere, around 10 km altitude, and is thus of particular
concern for airline crews and frequent passengers, who spend
many hours per year in this environment. During their flights airline crews typically get an additional
occupational dose between 2.2 mSv (220 mrem) per year [14] and 2.19 mSv/year,[15] according to various
studies.

Similarly, cosmic rays cause higher background exposure in astronauts than in humans on the surface of
Earth. Astronauts in low orbits, such as in the International Space Station or the Space Shuttle, are
partially shielded by the magnetic field of the Earth, but also suffer from the Van Allen radiation belt
which accumulates cosmic rays and results from the Earth's magnetic field. Outside low Earth orbit, as
experienced by the Apollo astronauts who traveled to the Moon, this background radiation is much more
intense, and represents a considerable obstacle to potential future long term human exploration of the
moon or Mars.

Cosmic rays also cause elemental transmutation in the atmosphere, in which secondary radiation
generated by the cosmic rays combines with atomic nuclei in the atmosphere to generate different
nuclides. Many so-called cosmogenic nuclides can be produced, but probably the most notable is carbon-
14, which is produced by interactions with nitrogen atoms. These cosmogenic nuclides eventually reach
the Earth's surface and can be incorporated into living organisms. The production of these nuclides varies
slightly with short-term variations in solar cosmic ray flux, but is considered practically constant over
long scales of thousands to millions of years. The constant production, incorporation into organisms and
relatively short half-life of carbon-14 are the principles used in radiocarbon dating of ancient biological
materials, such as wooden artifacts or human remains.

The cosmic radiation at sea level usually manifests as 511 keV gamma rays from annihilation of
positrons created by nuclear reactions of high energy particles and gamma rays. At higher altitudes there
is also the contribution of continuous bremsstrahlung spectrum.[7]

Food and water

Two of the essential elements that make up the human body, namely potassium and carbon, have
radioactive isotopes that add significantly to our background radiation dose. An average human contains
about 17 milligrams of potassium-40 (40K) and about 24 nanograms (10−9 g) of carbon-14 (14C), (half-
life 5,730 years). Excluding internal contamination by external radioactive material, these two are largest
components of internal radiation exposure from biologically functional components of the human body.
About 4,000 nuclei of 40K [16] decay per second, and a similar number of 14C. The energy of beta
particles produced by 40K is about 10 times that from the beta particles from 14C decay.
14C is present in the human body at a level of about 3700 Bq (0.1 μCi) with a biological half-life of 40
days.[17] This means there are about 3700 beta particles per second produced by the decay of 14C.
However, a 14C atom is in the genetic information of about half the cells, while potassium is not a
component of DNA. The decay of a 14C atom inside DNA in one person happens about 50 times per
second, changing a carbon atom to one of nitrogen.[18]

The global average internal dose from radionuclides other than radon and its decay products is
0.29 mSv/a, of which 0.17 mSv/a comes from 40K, 0.12 mSv/a comes from the uranium and thorium
series, and 12 μSv/a comes from 14C.[2]

Areas with high natural background radiation

Some areas have greater dosage than the country-wide averages.[19] In the world in general,
exceptionally high natural background locales include Ramsar in Iran, Guarapari in Brazil,
Karunagappalli in India,[20] Arkaroola in Australia[21] and Yangjiang in China.[22]

The highest level of purely natural radiation ever recorded on the Earth's surface was 90 µGy/h on a
Brazilian black beach (areia preta in Portuguese) composed of monazite.[23] This rate would convert to
0.8 Gy/a for year-round continuous exposure, but in fact the levels vary seasonally and are much lower in
the nearest residences. The record measurement has not been duplicated and is omitted from
UNSCEAR's latest reports. Nearby tourist beaches in Guarapari and Cumuruxatiba were later evaluated
at 14 and 15 µGy/h.[24][25] Note that the values quoted here are in Grays. To convert to Sieverts (Sv) a
radiation weighting factor is required; these weighting factors vary from 1 (beta & gamma) to 20 (alpha
particles).

The highest background radiation in an inhabited area is found in Ramsar, primarily due to the use of
local naturally radioactive limestone as a building material. The 1000 most exposed residents receive an
average external effective radiation dose of 6 mSv (600 mrem) per year, six times the ICRP
recommended limit for exposure to the public from artificial sources.[26] They additionally receive a
substantial internal dose from radon. Record radiation levels were found in a house where the effective
dose due to ambient radiation fields was 131 mSv (13.1 rem) per year, and the internal committed dose
from radon was 72 mSv (7.2 rem) per year.[26] This unique case is over 80 times higher than the world
average natural human exposure to radiation.

Epidemiological studies are underway to identify health effects associated with the high radiation levels
in Ramsar. It is much too early to draw unambiguous statistically significant conclusions.[26] While so far
support for beneficial effects of chronic radiation (like longer lifespan) has been observed in few places
only,[26] a protective and adaptive effect is suggested by at least one study whose authors nonetheless
caution that data from Ramsar are not yet sufficiently strong to relax existing regulatory dose limits.[27]
However, the recent statistical analyses discussed that there is no correlation between the risk of negative
health effects and elevated level of natural background radiation.[28]

Photoelectric
Background radiation doses in the immediate vicinity of particles of high atomic number materials,
within the human body, have a small enhancement due to the photoelectric effect.[29]

Neutron background
Most of the natural neutron background is a product of cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere. The
neutron energy peaks at around 1 MeV and rapidly drops above. At sea level, the production of neutrons
is about 20 neutrons per second per kilogram of material interacting with the cosmic rays (or, about 100–
300 neutrons per square meter per second). The flux is dependent on geomagnetic latitude, with a
maximum near the magnetic poles. At solar minimums, due to lower solar magnetic field shielding, the
flux is about twice as high vs the solar maximum. It also dramatically increases during solar flares. In the
vicinity of larger heavier objects, e.g. buildings or ships, the neutron flux measures higher; this is known
as "cosmic ray induced neutron signature", or "ship effect" as it was first detected with ships at sea.[7]

Artificial background radiation

Atmospheric nuclear testing

Frequent above-ground nuclear explosions between the 1940s
and 1960s scattered a substantial amount of radioactive
contamination. Some of this contamination is local, rendering the
immediate surroundings highly radioactive, while some of it is
carried longer distances as nuclear fallout; some of this material
is dispersed worldwide. The increase in background radiation due Displays showing ambient radiation
to these tests peaked in 1963 at about 0.15 mSv per year fields of 0.120–0.130 μSv/h (1.05–
worldwide, or about 7% of average background dose from all 1.14 mSv/a) in a nuclear power plant.
sources. The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 prohibited above- This reading includes natural
background from cosmic and
ground tests, thus by the year 2000 the worldwide dose from
terrestrial sources.
these tests has decreased to only 0.005 mSv per year.[33]

Occupational exposure
The International Commission on Radiological Protection
recommends limiting occupational radiation exposure to 50 mSv
(5 rem) per year, and 100 mSv (10 rem) in 5 years.[34]

However, background radiation for occupational doses includes

radiation that is not measured by radiation dose instruments in
potential occupational exposure conditions. This includes both Per capita thyroid doses in the
offsite "natural background radiation" and any medical radiation continental United States resulting
doses. This value is not typically measured or known from from all exposure routes from all
surveys, such that variations in the total dose to individual atmospheric nuclear tests conducted
at the Nevada Test Site from 1951–
workers is not known. This can be a significant confounding
1962.
factor in assessing radiation exposure effects in a population of
workers who may have significantly different natural background
and medical radiation doses. This is most significant when the occupational doses are very low.
At an IAEA conference in 2002, it was recommended that
occupational doses below 1–2 mSv per year do not warrant
regulatory scrutiny.[35]

Nuclear accidents
Under normal circumstances, nuclear reactors release small
amounts of radioactive gases, which cause small radiation
exposures to the public. Events classified on the International
Nuclear Event Scale as incidents typically do not release any Atmospheric 14C, New Zealand[30]
additional radioactive substances into the environment. Large and Austria.[31] The New Zealand
releases of radioactivity from nuclear reactors are extremely rare. curve is representative for the
To the present day, there were two major civilian accidents – the Southern Hemisphere, the Austrian
curve is representative for the
Chernobyl accident and the Fukushima I nuclear accidents –
Northern Hemisphere. Atmospheric
which caused substantial contamination. The Chernobyl accident nuclear weapon tests almost doubled
was the only one to cause immediate deaths. the concentration of 14C in the
Northern Hemisphere.[32]
Total doses from the Chernobyl accident ranged from 10 to 50
mSv over 20 years for the inhabitants of the affected areas, with
most of the dose received in the first years after the disaster, and over 100 mSv for liquidators. There
were 28 deaths from acute radiation syndrome.[36]

Total doses from the Fukushima I accidents were between 1 and 15 mSv for the inhabitants of the
affected areas. Thyroid doses for children were below 50 mSv. 167 cleanup workers received doses
above 100 mSv, with 6 of them receiving more than 250 mSv (the Japanese exposure limit for emergency
response workers).[37]

The average dose from the Three Mile Island accident was 0.01 mSv.[38]

Non-civilian: In addition to the civilian accidents described above, several accidents at early nuclear
weapons facilities – such as the Windscale fire, the contamination of the Techa River by the nuclear
waste from the Mayak compound, and the Kyshtym disaster at the same compound – released substantial
radioactivity into the environment. The Windscale fire resulted in thyroid doses of 5–20 mSv for adults
and 10–60 mSv for children.[39] The doses from the accidents at Mayak are unknown.

Nuclear fuel cycle

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other
U.S. and international agencies, require that licensees limit radiation exposure to individual members of
the public to 1 mSv (100 mrem) per year.

Other
Coal plants emit radiation in the form of radioactive fly ash which is inhaled and ingested by neighbours,
and incorporated into crops. A 1978 paper from Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that coal-fired
power plants of that time may contribute a whole-body committed dose of 19 µSv/a to their immediate
neighbours in a radius of 500 m.[40] The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation's 1988 report estimated the committed dose 1 km away to be 20 µSv/a for older plants or
1 µSv/a for newer plants with improved fly ash capture, but was unable to confirm these numbers by
test.[41] When coal is burned, uranium, thorium and all the uranium daughters accumulated by
disintegration — radium, radon, polonium — are released.[42] Radioactive materials previously buried
underground in coal deposits are released as fly ash or, if fly ash is captured, may be incorporated into
concrete manufactured with fly ash.

Other sources of dose uptake

Medical
The global average human exposure to artificial radiation is 0.6 mSv/a, primarily from medical imaging.
This medical component can range much higher, with an average of 3 mSv per year across the USA
population.[3] Other human contributors include smoking, air travel, radioactive building materials,
historical nuclear weapons testing, nuclear power accidents and nuclear industry operation.

A typical chest x-ray delivers 20 µSv (2 mrem) of effective dose.[43] A dental x-ray delivers a dose of 5
to 10 µSv.[44] A CT scan delivers an effective dose to the whole body ranging from 1 to 20 mSv (100 to
2000 mrem). The average American receives about 3 mSv of diagnostic medical dose per year; countries
with the lowest levels of health care receive almost none. Radiation treatment for various diseases also
accounts for some dose, both in individuals and in those around them.

Consumer items
Cigarettes contain polonium-210, originating from the decay products of radon, which stick to tobacco
leaves. Heavy smoking results in a radiation dose of 160 mSv/year to localized spots at the bifurcations
of segmental bronchi in the lungs from the decay of polonium-210. This dose is not readily comparable
to the radiation protection limits, since the latter deal with whole body doses, while the dose from
smoking is delivered to a very small portion of the body.[45]

Radiation metrology
In a radiation metrology laboratory, background radiation refers to the measured value from any
incidental sources that affect an instrument when a specific radiation source sample is being measured.
This background contribution, which is established as a stable value by multiple measurements, usually
before and after sample measurement, is subtracted from the rate measured when the sample is being
measured.

This is in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency definition of background as being
"Dose or dose rate (or an observed measure related to the dose or dose rate) attributable to all sources
other than the one(s) specified.[1]

The same issue occurs with radiation protection instruments, where a reading from an instrument may be
affected by the background radiation. An example of this is a scintillation detector used for surface
contamination monitoring. In an elevated gamma background the scintillator material will be affected by
the background gamma, which will add to the reading obtained from any contamination which is being
monitored. In extreme cases it will make the instrument unusable as the background swamps the lower
level of radiation from the contamination. In such instruments the background can be continually
monitored in the "Ready" state, and subtracted from any reading obtained when being used in
"Measuring" mode.

Regular Radiation measurement is carried out at multiple levels. Government agencies compile radiation
readings as part of environmental monitoring mandates, often making the readings available to the public
and sometimes in near-real-time. Collaborative groups and private individuals may also make real-time
readings available to the public. Instruments used for radiation measurement include the Geiger–Müller
tube and the Scintillation detector. The former is usually more compact and affordable and reacts to
several radiation types, while the latter is more complex and can detect specific radiation energies and
types. Readings indicate radiation levels from all sources including background, and real-time readings
are in general unvalidated, but correlation between independent detectors increases confidence in
measured levels.

List of near-real-time government radiation measurement sites, employing multiple instrument

types:

Europe and Canada: European Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP) Simple
map of Gamma Dose Rates (https://remap.jrc.ec.europa.eu/GammaDoseRates.aspx)
USA: EPA Radnet near-real-time and laboratory data by state (https://www.epa.gov/radnet/
near-real-time-and-laboratory-data-state)
List of international near-real-time collaborative/private measurement sites, employing primarily
Geiger-Muller detectors:

GMC map: http://www.gmcmap.com/ (mix of old-data detector stations and some near-real-
time ones)
Netc: http://www.netc.com/
Radmon: http://www.radmon.org/
Radiation Network: http://radiationnetwork.com/
Radioactive@Home: http://radioactiveathome.org/map/
Safecast: http://safecast.org/tilemap (http://safecast.org/tilemap/?y=0&x=0&z=3) (the green
circles are real-time detectors)
uRad Monitor: http://www.uradmonitor.com/

See also
Background radiation equivalent time (BRET)
Banana equivalent dose
Environmental radioactivity
Noise (electronics)

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External links
Background radiation description (https://web.archive.org/web/20110521023544/http://www.
rerf.or.jp/glossary_e/backgrou.htm) from the Radiation Effects Research Foundation
Environmental and Background Radiation FAQ (http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/cat
10.html) from the Health Physics Society
Radiation Dose Chart (http://www.ans.org/pi/resources/dosechart/) from the American
Nuclear Society
 Radiation Dose Calculator (http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/calculate.html) from
the United States Environmental Protection Agency

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