134 Learning Objectives: * Know that exposure to radiation from a radioactive source is known as irradiation, * Know that the unwanted presence of radioactive atoms fn or in another ‘material is known as contamination. * Know some precautions which can bre taken to minimise the risk of iradi and contamination. * Understand how the hazards of iradiation and contamination vary depending on the type of radiation. * Be able to compare the dangers associated with contamination and irradiation. ‘Understand the importance of publishing research into the effects of radiation on human health Specification Reference 4.4.2.4 Tip: See page 137 for ‘more on the dangers to being exposed to radioactive decay. 5. Irradiation and Contamination Radiation can cause harm to your body. How dangerous a radiation source is depends on which type of radiation it emits and how you're using it. What are irradiation and contamination? Objects near a radioactive source are irradiated by it. This simply means they're exposed to the radiation. Irradiating something does not make it radioactive, but exposure to radiation can be harmful to living things. Keeping sources in leac-lined boxes, standing behind barriers or being in a different room and using remote-controlled arms to handle sources are all ways of reducing the risks of irradiation, IF unwanted radioactive atoms get onto or into a material, then itis said to be contaminated. E.g. if you touch a radioactive source without wearing gloves, your hands would be contaminated, These contaminating atoms might then decay, releasing radiation which could cause you harm, Contamination is especially dangerous because radioactive particles could get inside your body. Gloves and tongs should be used when handling sources, to avoid particles getting stuck to your skin or under your nails. Some industrial workers wear protective suits to stop them breathing in particles, Contamination or irradiation can cause different amounts of harm based on the radiation type: * Outside the body, beta and gamma sources are the most dangerous. This, is because beta and gamma can penetrate the body and get to the delicate ‘organs. Alpha is less dangerous because it can’t penetrate the skin and is easily blocked by a small air gap. High levels of irradiation from all sources are dangerous, but especially from ones that emit beta and gamma. * Inside the body, alpha sources are the most dangerous. They do all their damage in a very localised area. Beta and gamma sources are less dangerous inside the body because they mostly pass straight out without doing much damage (they have a lower ionising power). So contamination, rather than irradiation, is the major concern when working with alpha sources. ‘The more we understand how different types of radiation affect our bodies, the better we can protect ourselves when using them. { ‘This is one of the reasons why it’s so important that research about this is published. The data is peer-reviewed and can quickly become accepted, leading to many improvements in our use of radioactive sources. Practice Questions — Fact Recall Q1_ State what is meant by the terms iradiation and contamination. Q2_ Which type%s) of fonising radiation is most dangerous outside the body? Why? Q3_ Which type(s) of fonising radiation is most dangerous inside the body? Why? Topic 4 Momio Structure6. Background Radiation Where you live and what you do as a job can affect how much radiation you are exposed to, so you need to be aware of where it comes from. Radiation dose You'll see later that radiation can cause damage to humans, including cancer or even death (see page 137). How likely you are to suffer damage if you're exposed to nuclear radiation depends on the radiation dose. Radiation dose is a measure of the risk of harm to your body due to exposure to radiation. It depends on the type and amount of radiation you've been exposed to. The higher the radiation dose, the more at risk you are of developing cancer. Radiation dose is measured in sieverts (Sv). The radiation dose due to background radiation (see below) is small, so you'll often see it given in millisieverts instead (1 Sv = 1000 mSv) Background radiation Background radiation is low-level radiation that is present at all times, all around us, wherever you go. The background radiation we receive comes from many sources, including: «Radioactivity of naturally occurring unstable isotopes which are all around us — in the air, in food, in building materials and in the rocks under our feet. + Radiation from space, which is known as cosmic rays. These come mostly from the Sun. Luckily, the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs a lot of the radiation from cosmic rays, but at very high altitudes a lot more of them can get through. + Radiation due to man-made sources, e.g. fallout from nuclear weapons tests, nuclear accidents (such as Chernobyl — see Figure 1) or dumped nuclear waste Figure 2 shows that more than half of the background radiation that a typical person in the UK is exposed to comes from radon gas produced by rocks and only 1% comes from the nuclear industry. 51% radop gas 14% rocks and 12% medical building materials uses (eg. Xrays) 1% the nuclear industry Figure 2: A pie chart showing the relative proportions of background radiation that atypical person is exposed to in the UK from diferent sources. Learning Objectives: * Know what is meant by radiation dose (in sievets, Sv). * Know that 1 Sv-= 1000 ms * Know that we are always surrounded by background radiation Know that background radiation comes from natural sources (rocks, cosmic rays, etc:) and man-made sources (eg. the nuclear industry and fallout from nuclear weapons) Know that the amount of background radiation you are exposed to depends fn factors such as your location and ‘occupation. Specification Reference 4.4.3.1 To avoid systematic ertors(p. 13), you should always measure and subtract the background radiation from your results when yout investigating the activity of a source. Figure 1: A simulation of the radiation (pink) in the ‘Northern hemisphere 10 days after the Chernobyl disaster in which a nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded in 1986 and released lots of radiation. Topie 4 Alomie Structure (IEEHhigher | Figure 3: A map of the United Kingdom showing radiation from rocks. The scale shows how the level ‘of radiation from rocks in different areas varies “N Figure 4: A nuclear power station worker wearing a radiation suit Tip: Uranium is mined to.use as a fuel for ‘nuclear power stations — see page 57. Effect of location and occupation The amount of radiation you're exposed to (and hence your radiation dose) can be affected by your location and occupation. Location = Certain underground rocks (e.g, granite) can cause higher levels of radiation at the surface, especially if they release radioactive radon gas, which tends to get trapped inside people's houses. A radon ‘detector can tell you if your house has a dangerous level of radon and a radon outlet pipe can be used to keep the level down. = People who live at high altitudes are exposed to more background radiation in the form of cosmic rays than people who live at sea level Occupation = Nuclear industry workers and uranium miners are typically exposed to 10 times the normal amount of radiation. They wear protective clothing and face masks to stop them from touching or inhaling the radioactive material, and monitor their radiation doses with special radiation badges and regular check-ups. = Radiographers work in hospitals using ionising radiation and so have a higher risk of radiation exposure, They wear lead aprons and stand behind lead screens to protect them from prolonged exposure to radiation = Underground (e.g, in mines, etc.) the radiation dose increases because of the rocks all around, posing a risk to miners, Practice Questions — Fact Recall QI. Give three main sources of background radiation. 2 Why do people living in locations with certain underground rocks get a higher radiation dose than people living in other areas? Greece sieeieas QI Anastronaut working aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which orbits the Earth, is worried that his job puts him at risk of a higher dose of background radiation. a) What source of background radiation is likely to be higher on board the ISS than on Earth? ») Suggest how this influences the decision that the crew of the ISS should be regularly changed. Topic 4 Momio Structure7. Risks and Uses of Radiation Learning Objectives: * Know how radiation can damage the hhuman body. Know that ionising Ionising radiation gets loads of bad press, but its pretty essential in all sorts of everyday situations, especially medicine. While it can cause cancer it can also help to treat it radiation has applications in medicine. Effect of radiation on living cells a eal gamma and beta lonising radiation can be very harmful to living cells. Alpha, beta and gamma emitters ace used as radiation will enter living cells and collide with molecules. These collisions tracers to investigate the function of internal organs. Understand how radiation is used to control or kill cancer ‘cause ionisation, which damages or destroys the molecules. Lower doses tend to cause minor damage without killing the cell. This ‘can give rise to mutant cells which divide uncontrollably — see Figure 1 The cells keep dividing, making more cells and forming a tumour — this i uncontrolled cell division is cancer. ces * Be able to assess the risks of using radiation ionising and compare them radiation to the beneiis of the treatment. A ification Reference eee eee Normal cells Ionisation inside the Damaged (mutant) cell exposed toa low cell eads to damage. divides uncontrollably, dose of radiation. forming a tumour. Figure 1: A cell being damaged by a low dose of radiation, leading to it multiplying uncontrollably. Higher doses tend to kill cells completely, which causes radiation sickness if a lot of body cells are killed at once. Normal cells Ionisation causes lots of exposed to a high damage to the cells, dose of radiation, causing them to die. Figure 2: Cells being killed by a high dose of radiation. The extent of the harmful effects of radiation depends mainly on two things: = How much exposure you have to the radiation. = The energy and penetration of the radiation, since some types are more hazardous than others (see page 134) Topie 4 Alomie Structure138 Tip: The intensity of ‘gamma radiation means the amount detected per unit time, Tip: There's more on half-life on page 130. Medical uses of radiation Although ionising radiation can be harmful to living cells, it can also have its benefits if used correctly, Medical tracers Certain radioactive isotopes can be injected into people (or they can just swallow them) and their progress around the body can be followed using an external detector. These isotopes are known as medical tracers. A computer converts the readings from the external detector to a display showing where the strongest readings are coming from. This can help doctors to investigate whether the patient’ internal organs are functioning as they should be. Ea Awell-known example is the use of iodine-123 or iodine-131. These are absorbed by the thyroid gland in the neck just like normal iodine-127, but give out gamma radiation. The radiation can be detected to indicate whether the thyroid gland is taking in iodine as it should. igh intensity of gamma radiation detected Figure 3: An image of the gamma radiation detected from a person who has been injected with gamma-emitteriodine-131, The image shows that most gamma radiation is coming from the thyroid, indicating thatthe iodine-13 has collected there. All isotopes which are taken into the body must be gamma or beta emitters, so that the radiation passes out of the body. Alpha sources should never be used as they are highly ionising and do their damage in a localised area — see page 134. The source should only last a few hours too, so that the radioactivity inside the patient quickly disappears (i.e. they should have a short half-life) Radiotherapy Radiotherapy is the treatment of cancer using ionising radiation, e.g. gamma rays. It can be used to control or destroy cancer cells. High doses of radiation will kill all living cells, including cancer cells The radiation has to be directed carefully and at just the right dosage so as to I the cancer cells without damaging too many normal cells. Radioactive implants (usually beta-emitters) can also be put next to or inside tumours. A [air bit of damage is done to normal cells, which makes the patient feel very ill. But if the cancer is successfully killed off in the end, then it’s worth it. Topic 4 Atomio Structurenormal cells cancer cells oOo Cancer cells dividing High dose of radiation Cancer cells die ‘uncontrollably to directed at cancer cells only. form a tumour Ionsation causes lots of damage to the cells Figure 5: Radiation being used to kill cancer cells, Weighing up the risks For every situation, it’s worth considering both the benefits and risks of using radioactive materials. For example, tracers can be used to diagnose life-threatening conditions, while the risk of cancer from one use of a tracer is very small Whilst prolonged exposure to radiation poses risks and causes many side effects, many people with cancer choose to have radiotherapy as it may get rid of their cancer entirely. For them, the potential benefits outweigh the risks. Perceived risk is how risky a person thinks something is. I's not the same as the actual risk of a procedure and the perceived risk ccan vary from person to person. See page 8 for more on this Practice Questions — Fact Recall QI Explain how radiation can cause cancer. 2 How can radiation cause cell death? Q3__ Explain how medical tracers work. Which types of ionising radiation sources can be used and why? Q4 Whats radiotherapy? Sa Figure 4: A male undergoing radiotherapy for brain cancer. The laser crosshair marks the point where the radiation should be focused, and a head brace is worn to keep the head perfectly sil Tip: See page 251 for more on comparing the risks associated with diferent medical procedures. Exam Tip In the exam you could be asked to explain why certain radioactive sources are chosen for Certain tasks. Just think about the properties of each one (p. 126-127 and p. 134), and how that would make them useful Topic 4 Alomie Structure EEN