INTRODUCTION ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

What is Radiation?
 Radiation describes any process in which
energy travels through a vacuum or through
a medium, ultimately to be absorbed by
another body.
 is energy that comes from a source and
travels through space at the speed of light

KINDS OF RADIATION
SOURCES OF IONIZING RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATION
 Radiation that is capable of ionizing the
1. Natural or background - 82% radiation acquire
medium
 energetic enough to detach electrons from
a. External- 60% radiation acquire
atoms or molecules
 Cosmic rays ( Sun & stars)
o examples: Xray, Gamma Ray, Alpha,
 Terrestrial (Ur,Th,Rn)
Negatron, Positron
o Rn (radon) is the largest component
of the terrestrial radiation
NON-IONIZING RADIATION
 refers to any type of radiation that does not
b. Internal- 22% radiation acquire
carry enough energy to remove an electron
 Ingested (K-40, C-14)
from an atom or molecule.
o examples: Radiofrequency, Infrared,
2. Man-made or artificial- 18% Radiation acquire
Visible Light, UV

 Medical- 16% (ex. Xray, CT scan) Largest

TYPES OF IONIZING RADIATION
contributor
 Nuclear-power plant (ex. Power plant and
1. Particulate Radiation
bomb)
 Industrial sources (ex. Soil, banana and
 radiation that travels in space possessing
other sources)
either mass or charge or both
 Consumer items (ex. Cell phone and watch
 usually emitted by radioactive substance
dial, smoke detectors)
 includes alpha, beta, neutrons and other
nuclear fragments
EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION

2. Electromagnetic Radiation
1. DETERMINISTIC
 radiation that travels in a wave form,
 Existence of a dose threshold value
accompanied by electric and magnetic field
 Effect severity increases with dose
 no mass, no charge
 E.g. cataracts, skin injuries (skin reddening,
 Ex. radiowaves, microwaves, infrared, UV,
moist desquamation, etc),
Gamma, Xray
 infertility, hair loss
 NON-IONIZING RADIATION

Non-ionizing or non ionising radiation refers to any

typr of radiation that does not carry enough energy
to remove an electron from an atom or molecule

Types:
 Visible light
 Ultraviolet Radiation
 Infrared Radiation
 Laser Radiation
 Radiofrequency and microwave Radiation
 Ultrasound energy
 extremely low frequency EM fields
2. STOCHASTIC
 Assumed to have a linear dose response
SOME SOURCES OF NON-IONIZING
relationship with no threshold dose
RADIATION
 The higher the dose, the higher the risk of
getting the disease.
 Electric power lines, electric cables &
 E.g. cancer, hereditary effects
devices
 Wireless Communicatioins: Cell phones
(mobile phones) and cell sites (mobile phone
IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION
base stations) ; WiFi; Radar facilities
 TV and Radio transmitters
Concerned Organizations
 MRI machines
 Ultrasound machines
 International Commission on Radiological
 Laser sources
Protection
 Ultraviolet and Infrared lamps
 International Atomic Energy Agency – Basic
Safety Standards
NON-IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION
 World Health Organization
 United Nations Scientific Committee on the
Concerned Organizations
Effects of Atomic
 International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation
Radiation Protection
 National Standards Setting Bodies
 Institute of Electrical and Electronics
 National Regulatory Bodies
Engineers
o CDRRHR- Center for Device
 World Health Organization
Regulation, Radiation Health, and
 International Labor Organization
Research
 National Standards Setting Bodies
o PNRI- Philippines Nuclear Research
 National Regulatory Bodies – CDRRHR in
Institute
the Republic of the Philippines
 1 EV = 1.6 X 10-19 J
RADIATION PROTECTION PRINCIPLES
o Justification FLUENCE (F)
o Optimization  number of particles (or photons) passing
o Dose Limitation through unit area
 measured in particles per square metre (m-2)
CHAPTER 2: RADIATION QUANTITIES AND  Fluence rate is the number of particles passing
QUALITIES through unit area in unit time
Radiometric Quantities
 quantities which describe the radiation field EXPOSURE (X)
(in terms of particles or rays) & the quantity  amount of ionization produced in air
of ionization produced  originally called the roentgen (R), named after
the discoverer of x-rays, Wilhelm Roentgen
Dosimetric Quantities  SI unit of exposure is the coulomb per kilogram
 measure the effects produced by the (C/kg)
radiation dose
 Applies to the amount of energy 1 R = 2.58 X 10-4 C/KG OF AIR
deposited when radiation passes through
a material KERMA (K)

Operational Quantities  kinetic energy released per unit mass of

absorber
RADIATION DOSE & MEASUREMENTS  a measure of the kinetic energy of charged
particles produced in an
Radiometric Quantities absorbing medium by uncharged radiations (i.e.
o Energy photons and neutrons)
o Fluence  Gray (Gy)
o Exposure
o Kerma 1 GY = 1 J / KG

Dosimetric Quantities DOSIMETRIC QUANTITIES

o Absorbed dose Absorbed dose (D)

o Equivalent dose
o Effective dose  measure of the energy deposited in any
medium by any type of radiation
 gray (Gy)
ENERGY
 e.g. 1.3 mGy absorbed dose to water
 SI unit is Joules (J)
 energy of ionizing radiation is measured in
1 GY = 100 RAD
terms of electronvolts (eV)
Equivalent dose (H)
o one electronvolt is the amount of
 Absorbed dose tells us how much energy is
energy gained by an electron when it
deposited in an absorbing
is accelerated through a potential
difference of one volt.
material but not tell how much damage may be done
to tissue, nor
does it indicate the level of the potential hazard
 Sievert (Sv)
1 SV = 1 J / KG
Effective dose (E) CHAPTER 3: HEALTH PHYSICS
 Some tissues and body organs are more
sensitive to radiation than others and an CARDINAL PRINCIPLES OF RADIATION
equivalent dose in one organ may be more PROTECTION
hazardous than the same equivalent dose in
another organ  Time
 Tissue weighting factor  Distance
 take into consideration the different  Shielding
radiosensitivities of the different organs and
tissues 1. TIME- keep the time exposure to radiation as
 Sievert (Sv) short as possible

 If the time exposure to radiation is doubled,

the exposure will be doubled

Exposure= Exposure Rate x Time

2. DISTANCE- maintain a large distance as possible

between the source of radiation and the exposed
person
OPERATIONAL QUANTITIES
 For radiation measurement purposes, the  As the distance between the source of
following operational radiation and the person increases, the
quantities are defined: exposure decreases rapidly
o Ambient dose equivalent  INVERSE SQUARE LAW
o Directional dose equivalent o When the distance is doubled, the
o Personal dose equivalent intensity of xray is reduced by 1⁄4
o When the distance is halved, the
QUANTITIES FOR RADIONUCLIDES intensity will increase by a factor of
4
ACTIVITY (A)
 number of radionuclei (nuclei of
radionuclides) disintegrating per unit time or
number of radioactive atoms that undergo
transformation to new atoms per unit time
 Units : becquerel (Bq) = 1 transformation
per second
o curie (Ci) = 3.7 X 10^10 Bq
EXAMPLE

FIRST EXPOSURE IS MADE WITH AN

INTENSITY OF 80 MR/MIN AT A DISTANCE OF
10M. WHAT WILL BE THE INTENSITY OF THE
SECOND EXPOSURE IF THE DISTANCE IS
ADJUSTED INTO 20M?

3. SHIELDING- insert shielding material between

the radiation source and the exposed person
 The amount of protective barrier reduces
radiation intensity can be estimated if the
half value layer (HVL) or the tenth value
layer (TVL) of the barrier material is known
o Relationship between HVL and
TVL: 1TVL = 3.3 HVL