Is Radiation Effects Humans
The word radiation is frightening to many. Many people think radiation only comes from the use of mobile phones or nuclear power plants, but this is not true. We encounter Radiation in every aspect of our daily lives. Radiation enters our bodies through construction work, plane travel, walking in the sun, eating, and even breathing. Suppose you and your friend are sitting side by side and talking by side, do you know you both are absorbing radiation here by talking to each other? Notwithstanding it sounds weird it is true. Radiation is emitted from many natural and human-made sources. Since we are exposed to radiation in every aspect of life, should we worry about it, or is radiation effects humans, and is it harmful?
Should We be Worried about Radiation?
First of all, we need to know what radiation is, radiation is the transfer of energy from one place to another through a web or particles. That means you are technically emitting radiation when you talk or turn on the lights at night. Because, here sound energy is transferred from one place to another during speaking, and the produced light is transferred from one place to another by lighting a lamp.
Types of Radiation:
Radiation is basically of two types, such as:
- Nuclear Radiation (like alpha ray beta ray)
- Electromagnetic Radiation (like X-ray, gamma ray, etc.)
As we know the nucleus of an atom contains neutrons and protons. By a strong nuclear force, these protons and neutrons are held together. But if the nucleus of an atom has more protons and neutrons than normal, then that atom is called an isotope, which is unstable. Unstable nuclei always try to come to a stable state. As a result, the unstable atom emits alpha rays, beta rays, and in some cases both alpha and beta rays to become stable.
Alpha rays are essentially helium atoms without electrons, so alpha rays are positively charged. On the other hand, Beta rays are high-energy electrons.
Simply put, electromagnetic radiation is light. Light is the proton, proton carries energy proportional to its frequency. The higher the frequency of the proton the more energy it carries, and the lower the frequency of the proton the less energy it carries.
Radiowaves, microwaves, infrared, and visible light carry less energy due to their lower frequencies, they are called non-ionizing radiation. On the other hand, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and Gamma-rays, because of their higher frequency, carry more energy and are called ionizing radiation.
All visible and invisible light is actually radiation. Among these types of light, we are using radio waves in telecommunications, microwaves are used in heating food, X-rays and gamma-rays are used in the medical sector and visible light is used all the time, this is basically radiation.
Penetrating Power of These Radiations.
Alpha rays are low energy, so alpha rays can be blocked by a thin paper.
Beta rays are slightly more powerful. So it cannot be stuck through paper but can be stuck through thin sheets of aluminum.
Gramma-ray is the strongest, requiring a lead several inches thick to block it.
How Does Radiation Affect Humans?
Alpha rays are less powerful, so they stop by hitting the upper layer of the human body which is the skin. That means it can’t penetrate the human skin.
As the energy of beta rays is somewhat higher, they can penetrate the skin and enter the body. As we all have more or less idea about, s we know that X-rays can penetrate the skin and flesh of the human body, but can’t penetrate bones.
On the other hand, Gamma rays are the most powerful. It has the energy to enter the human body on one side and exit on the other. High-energy radiation enters our body and damages body cells, damaging DNA, which can lead to cancer and eventually death.
What is the Most Harmful Radiation Type?
Among electromagnetic radiation, only ionizing radiation i.e. ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and gamma rays are harmful to us.
On the other hand, radio waves, microwaves, and infrared visible light are not harmful to us. Because they are non-ionized, their energy is low, so they cannot penetrate the body’s skin and enter the body. So there is no chance of damage to body cells.
On the other hand, among nuclear radiation alpha rays are not very harmful, but if alpha rays enter the body through the mouth, it can cause some concern. Again, beta rays are harmful due to their high energy.
How are we Exposed to Radiation in Our Daily Life?
Radiation enters our bodies through various natural and man-made causes. Most naturally occurring radiation comes from Radon, Radon (Rn) is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that originates from uranium in the Earth’s interior. On the other hand, different types of cosmic rays come from space and the sun is a type of radiation.
Radiation also spreads from various objects on the ground like rocks, soil, etc. With breathing, we take in an isotope of carbon that is C-14, which is radioactive. Moreover, we also get this C-14 isotope through food.
In addition to this C-14 isotope, there are other types of radioactive isotopes in food such as radioactive potassium isotopes in bananas, and even water contains radiation.
On the other hand, human-made causes include nuclear power plants, and various radioactive isotopes used in the medical sector, especially in cancer. Moreover, the use of X-rays.
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What are Radiation Effects?
There is no reason to panic. Because the human body can adapt to the effects of radiation up to a certain level. That is, your body can fix itself and the level of naturally occurring radiation is very low, which is not capable of causing any harm to the human body.
Even if there is damage due to some reason, the body can repair it on its own. So there is nothing to worry about natural radiation.
But there are reasons to worry about human-made radiation. Human-made sources of radiation can be a cause of concern for humans if not managed properly.
Bottom Line:
Is Radiation Effects Humans, it is an important topic that should be cleared to us. Because radiation is force or energy that comes from a source and travels through space at the speed of light and is also available in nature. This energy has an electric field and a magnetic field combined with it and has a wave-like substance. You could also call radiation “electromagnetic waves”. Hope from this post you have got a basic idea on the topic “Is Radiation Effects Humans or not”.
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