Radiation hygiene

Outline
• Radiation theory & basics
• Exposure and effects
• Ways to minimize exposure
• Beneficial uses in modern society
• Resources and additional information
 Why Are Elements
Radioactive?
Unstable nucleus:
• Has excess energy.
• Wants to go to
“ground state.”
• Becomes stable by
emitting ionizing
radiation.
What does “ionizing” mean?
 Who Discovered
Radioactivity?
Antoine Henri Becquerel

• Worked with uranium.

• Noticed phosphorescence
caused film exposure after
leaving uranium in the
sun.
• Noticed same thing
happened on cloudy days.
 Radiation Types

Alpha Particles
(2n, 2p)

Beta Particles
(e-or+)

Photons (hv)
(x or gamma rays)

Paper Concrete
Ionizing Radiations
Beta Decay
3H Beta
particle

3He Ion
NN
P
e N

PP
e

Anti
Neutrino
The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Figure courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

 Ionizing Radiations
Gamma Emission
137mBa 137Ba
Gamma ray

Excited
Nucleus
 Definitions
• Radioactive decay is a spontaneous process in which
nucleons are emitted from or transformed within the
nucleus, resulting in a change in the identity of the
nucleus, and usually accompanied by the emission of
one or more types of radiation from the nucleus and/or
atom.
• Half-life is the time required for half of the atoms of a
radioactive material to decay to another nuclear form.
Who’s the Famous “Madame” of
Radiological Fame?
Marie Curie
• With her husband
Pierre, discovered
radium and coined
the term
“radioactive”
• First woman to win
two Nobel Prizes
Units of Radioactivity
• The becquerel (Bq)
or
• The curie (Ci)
1 Ci = 37,000,000,000 Bq
so 1 mCi = 37 MBq
and 1 µCi = 37 kBq
 Approximate Radioactivity
in Assorted Items
Item or Process mCi MBq

• Smoke Detector 0.001 0.037

• Biomedical Lab Experiment 0.5 18.5

• Nuclear Medicine Dose 10 370

• Industrial Radiography Source 40,000 1,480,000

Natural Background Radiation
Man-Made Radiation
Biological Effects
Mechanisms of Injury
Ionizing Radiation

Cell Damage

Repair Transformation
Cell Death
 Radiation Dose
Dose or radiation dose is a generic term for a
measure of radiation exposure. In radiation
protection, dose is expressed in millirem.

External Dose
After

X-Ray
Machine Image
(film)
Subject is not radioactive but
has been exposed to a
radiation dose (single chest x
ray = 5-10 mrem).
 Contamination
Contamination is the presence of a radioactive
material in any place where it is not desired,
and especially in any place where
its presence could be harmful.

Yuck!
Radiation Detection Instruments

Photo by Karen Sheehan

Photo by Carl Tarantino

Geiger Counter Liquid Scintillation Counter

 Lessons from the Past
The Radium Dial Painters

Photo by Carmelina Rattrovo from the Playwrights Theatre production of Radium Girls, by D.W. Gregory
 Annual Radiation Dose Limits
General Public vs. Occupational
Established by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission

• General Public Limit - 100 mrem

• Occupational Limit - 5,000 mrem

Remember – We get approximately 300 mrem per

year from natural background exposure.
Minimizing Radiation
Exposure
Basic Concepts
• Time
• Distance
• Shielding
Minimizing Exposure - Time

• Minimize the
amount of time
spent near
sources of
radiation.
Minimize Exposure by
Maximizing Distance

As the distance from a radioactive

source doubles, the exposure rate
decreases by a factor of four.
 Minimizing Exposure By
Using Shielding

Lead blanket
shielding around
letdown radiation
monitors

Surry Power Station

 Loss of Life Expectancy
Activity or Behavior LLE (DAYS)__________________

Recreational swimming 40

Being 15 percent overweight 900

Smoking 20 cigarettes per day 1,600

Using pesticides at home 12

Being exposed to radon in a home 35

Living within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant 0.4

Riding a bicycle 6

Driving a car 200

Skydiving 25

Consuming alcohol (U.S. average) 230

Medicine and Research

• Colleges
• Doctors’ Offices
• Hospitals
• Pharmaceutical
• Research and Development
Research: As a “Tracer”
• Radioactivity is an excellent
tool!

• Detectable in minute quantities

(like finding one grain of sand
on a small beach containing
6,000,000,000 granules)
 Power Generation
Nuclear power
supplies 20 percent
of energy in the
United States.
There are 104
nuclear power
plants in the United
States. Photo by Karen Sheehan
 Space Exploration
The fuel in:
• Satellites
• Jupiter Probe
• Others

Jupiter Probe
Who Discovered X Rays?
Wilhelm Conrad
Roentgen

Roentgen worked with a

Crookes tube to study
cathode rays.
How X Rays Work
X Rays (continued)
Other Types of X-Ray Machines

Photos by Karen Sheehan

X-Ray Crystallography

Photo by Karen Sheehan

 Nuclear Medicine
Diagnostic Procedures

• Radioactive injection
• Short half-life
radionuclide
• Pictures taken with
special gamma camera
• Many different studies:
Thyroid
Lung
Cardiac
White Blood Cell Photo by Karen Sheehan
Bone Scans

Image courtesy of
 Radiation Therapy
Used for treating cancer. Why does it work?

Photo by Karen Sheehan

Image courtesy of

External Beam Brachytherapy (implants)

Radioactive Consumer Products

Photo by Karen Sheehan