NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY

“There is no safe amount of radiation. Even small amounts do harm.” – Linus Pauling
Health Physics Society. http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/whatisradiation.html#

Baes, F. (2016). What is Radiation? Health Physics Society.

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/whatisradiation.html#

Accoriding to Health Physics Society, “Radiation is energy that comes from a source
and travels through space and may be able to penetrate various materials. Light, radio,
and microwaves are types of radiation that are called nonionizing.” On the other hand,
“ionizing radiation can produce charged particles (ions) in matter, and is produced by
unstable atoms.”

Radiation can also be produced by high-voltage devices (e.g., x-ray machines).

Atoms with unstable nuclei are said to be radioactive and in order to reach stability,
these atoms give off, or emit, the excess energy or mass. These emissions are
called radiation. Radiation can be electromagnetic or particulate. Gamma radiation and
x-rays are examples of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma radiation originates in the
nucleus while x-rays come from the electronic part of the atom.

Interestingly, there is a "background" of natural radiation everywhere (ubiquitous) in

our environment. Ubiquitous background radiation comes from space (i.e., cosmic rays)
and from naturally occurring radioactive materials contained in the earth and in living
things.

WHO
Radiation is energy that travels in the form of waves or particles and is part of our
everyday environment. People are exposed to radiation from cosmic rays, as well as to
radioactive materials found in the soil, water, food, air and also inside the body.

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Radiation. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from

https://www.who.int/health-topics/radiation#tab=tab_1

Mechanism of how exposure to radiation can damage our bodies

Possible sources of radiation (esp. gamma radiation) and the changes it makes

Examples of radiation poisoning

Search about Marie Curie’s death

How does that kind of damage prevented by today’s technology