Bananas, wife and other sources of natural radiation

High doses of ionizing radiation are dangerous to humans and robots . Everyone knows about it. But some people are especially afraid of radiation, for them the word "radiation" is almost equivalent to the word "death." In fact, in low doses of radiation there is nothing dangerous. Moreover, radiation is a completely natural thing. It is present not only in Belarusian milk , but even in Ecuadorian bananas.

Back in 2011, Randall Munro compiled an excellent table of radiation doses , which clearly shows the radiation doses a person receives from various sources. The table is translated into Russian . The most important thing is that it gives an understanding of the perspective, that is, it allows one to compare absorbed radiation from the same notorious eaten banana (0.05 µSv) with a lethal dose (8 Sv) in one picture.

Absorbed radiation is measured in Sievert (Sv). A large dose received in a short time usually causes more damage, but “accumulated” radiation also matters because it produces a permanent destructive effect on the cells of the body. The accumulated dose plays a role in issues such as the risk of getting cancer.
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Randall Munro begins his table with the simplest and most natural sources of radiation: a person is in bed next to you, a banana eaten, etc. It is especially noted that a mobile phone is not on the list of everyday sources of low doses of radiation because it does not create ionizing radiation and does not cause crayfish.



The total dose for all items of the blue table is 60 µSv. This is less than the absorbed radiation from 1 year of life in a stone, brick or concrete building (it is now clear why people buy eco-friendly and high-strength houses made of 24-layer cardboard ).



But even all the points of the green table are only a tiny part of the absorbed radiation that can cause even a small damage to human health, see the table in its entirety.



There is also a visual video made on the basis of this table.



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