Radiation:

• Radiation is all around us. We encounter it every day from natural and
man-made sources and it sustains our lives.
•In simple terms, we can define radiation as any energy that is either
transmitted or absorbed. Technically, we can define radiation as energy in
the form of particles or rays which travel through space.
Types of radiation:
Radiation is of two general types in our environment.
Non-ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation
Non-Ionizing Radiation:
Non-ionizing radiation exists in various forms. Some are detected by our
senses while other forms are recognized through special instruments that
convert this type of radiation into signals that our senses can recognize
Examples of Non-ionizing Radiation:
• Radio waves which carry information and entertainment through radio and
television.
• Microwaves which are used in microwave ovens and to transmit cellular
telephone messages.
• Infrared rays which provide energy in the form of heat
• Visible light which we can see
• Ultraviolet rays from the sun which can provide a good suntan
Ionizing Radiation:
• Ionizing radiation is another type of radiation that exists in our
environment. Unlike infrared (heat) or visible light, it is undetected by any of
our physical senses. But although we cannot see or feel the presence of this
radiation, we can detect it with quite simple radiation detection instruments.
• Ionizing radiation occurs in two forms (rays and particles) and occurs at the
high frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum.
•This type of radiation carries sufficient energy to knock electrons off other
atoms - leaving them electrically charged or ionized. In living tissues, the ions
caused by such radiation can affect normal biological processes.
Common types of ionizing radiation:
There are four main types of ionizing radiation emitted by the nuclei of
radioactive atoms.
Alpha particles Beta particles Neutrons Gamma rays
X-radiation is not strictly nuclear in origin but is included here as a form of
ionizing radiation very similar to gamma radiation.

Alpha ( a ) Particles
• They have positive electric charge and are emitted from naturally-
occurring elements such as uranium and radium, as well as from some man-
made radioactive elements.
• It is made up of two protons and two neutrons bound together. Hence, an
alpha particle is identical with the nucleus of a helium atom.
• Because of its relatively large size, alpha particles travel slowly, collide
readily with matter and lose their energy quickly.
• They have little penetrating power and can be stopped by a sheet of paper
or by the first layer of the skin and thus, present no external hazard
• If they are taken in the body, for example by breathing or swallowing,
alpha particles can affect the body’s cells. Inside the body, because they give
up their energy over a relatively short distance, alpha particles can inflict
more biological damage than other kinds of radiation.
Beta ( b ) Particles
They are negatively charged particles identical to electrons. These particles
are much smaller, lighter and more penetrating than alpha particles.
They can pass through 1 to 2 centimeters of water and human flesh. Thus,
beta particles are considered a slight external hazard depending on their
energy.
It can be stopped by a sheet of aluminum a few millimeters thick, by window
glass, wood or a sheet of metal.
Beta-emitting materials can also be hazardous if taken into the body.
Examples of beta radiation are the natural radioactivity from:
potassium-40 in soil, rocks and minerals, tritium, a hydrogen isotope.
Gamma ( y ) Rays:
• They are electromagnetic waves of very short wavelength and travelling
with the speed of light.
• They have greater energy than medical X-rays.
• They are emitted from the nuclei of some radioactive atoms (like uranium-
238) when they decay.
• They are very penetrating and can pass right through the human body.
• They can be used in hospitals to diagnose and treat cancer or in industrial
operations to detect defects in welds or pipes.
• Dense materials such as lead and concrete are excellent barriers against
gamma rays.
X-rays:
• They are electromagnetic waves with lesser energy and penetrating power
than gamma rays.
• They are produced by machines when high-speed electrons strike a metal
target and are used in many diagnostic procedures in medicine.
• X-rays can penetrate the human body, but are absorbed by denser tissues
such as bone. These show up as the white parts on an X-ray image.
• X-rays that are not absorbed pass right through and cause the
photographic film to darken when developed.
Neutrons:
• They are particles with no charge; and because of this they can penetrate
many materials very easily.
• They are formed during the splitting (fissioning) of certain atoms inside a
device called a nuclear reactor.
• Neutrons are not actually ionizing radiation, but if it they hit other nuclei,
they may cause emission of gamma rays or charged particles, indirectly
giving rise to ionizing radiation.
• Neutrons are more penetrating than gamma rays and can be stopped only
by thick concrete, water or paraffin barrier, or any hydrogenous materials.
Sources of ionizing radiation
The sources of radiation according to origin are:

1. Naturally - Occurring Sources of Radiation

2. Artificial or Man - Made Sources of Ionizing Radiation

Naturally - Occurring Sources of Radiation

• The following sources of radiation constitute what we refer to as natural
background radiation. They exist anywhere and everywhere, varying in intensity
from place to place. The background radiation represents about 80 percent of all
the radiation to which we are exposed to.

1. Cosmic radiation.
We are constantly bombarded by high sub-atomic particles and gamma rays
coming from the sun and outer space. As most of it is blocked by the earth’s
atmosphere, only a fraction of it reaches the ground. The dose from cosmic
radiation varies from one location to another depending on altitude, latitude and
very occasionally on the solar cycle (sunspot).

2. Earth’s Crust (Terrestrial Radiation).

• This radiation source comes from naturally-occurring radioactive elements that
have existed since the earth was formed and are still around because they remain
radioactive for many millions of years.
• The main contributors are uranium-238, uranium - 235, thorium - 232,
potassium-40 and their decay products which give off alpha or beta particles (and
sometimes gamma rays) continuously.
• Building materials which use soil and rocks as components also add measurable
radiation amounts

3. Radon
This is a radioactive gas that naturally comes from the radioactive decay of radium.
Radon can seep out from where they are produced into rocks or building materials
of our homes, and can then be inhaled along with its decay products.
Radon and its decay products are the biggest source of natural radiation in the
world

4. Internal radiation (food and drink).

Since radioactive materials occur everywhere in nature, it is inevitable that they get
into drinking water and food. Potassium-40 in particular is a major source of
internal radiation, but there are others. The element potassium is essential to man,
plants and animals. From plants, potassium finds its way through food chains into
man where it is built up in body tissue, particularly muscle.
Artificial or Man - Made Sources of Ionizing Radiation

• The doses received from artificial sources of radiation of most people are much
smaller than those from natural radiation but they still vary considerably. In fact,
only about 20 percent of man’s radiation exposure comes from artificial or man-
made radioactive sources. They are in principle fully controllable, unlike natural
sources.

• Medical Applications

The biggest man-made contribution to radiation exposure of individuals comes from

the medical and dental use of X-rays and from radioactive materials used to
diagnose or treat diseases.

• For some diseases, diagnostic information can be given by the gamma rays
emitted by radioactive materials or those that are introduced into the patient by
injection, or by swallowing or by inhalation. This technique is called nuclear
medicine.

• Other medical applications include the use of radioactive cobalt for the treatment
of cancers, or by injection of radioactive iodine which concentrates in the thyroid
for treatment of goiters and thyroid disorders.

•Cancerous conditions may be treated through radiotherapy, in which beams of

high energy X-rays or gamma rays from cobalt-60 or similar sources are used. They
are carefully aimed to kill the diseased tissue, often from several different directions
to reduce the dose to surrounding healthy tissue.

Radiation in Consumer Products

Minute radiation doses are received from artificial radioactivity in consumer

products such as smoke detectors which use radioactive Americium-241 to detect
smoke particles in the air.

In some luminous signs and gas mantles, fluorescence and brightness are due to
the radioactive material. The amount of radioactive material in these products are
so small it does not have any effect on the consumer.

Fallout

Radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons test carried out in the atmosphere is the
most widespread environmental contaminant but doses to the public have declined
from relatively high values in the early 1960s to very low levels in recent years.

However, where tests were carried out at ground level or even underground,
localized contamination often remains near weapons site.
Nuclear and Other Industries
Other artificial sources include small quantities of radioactive materials which can
be released to the environment in the course of normal operation of nuclear
installations.

Radioisotopes such as cobalt-60 are also used in industry to sterilize products such
as cosmetics and medical supplies.

Other isotopes are used in nuclear gauges to determine the thickness of materials
such as paper products, plastic films and metal sheets.

Radiation is also utilized to measure liquid levels in large storage tanks and to
determine the quality of welds in structures such as bridges and buildings.

Units used to measure radiation:

• Becquerel (Bq)- In measuring radioactivity, we use a unit called the becquerel (Bq)
to describe the number of nuclei which decay or disintegrate in a second. One
becquerel is equal to1 disintegration per second. The former unit used for this
quantity is the curie (Ci) (1 Ci = 37 billion Bq).

• Gray (Gy)- When ionizing radiation interacts with matter, whether it is living or
non-living matter, some of its energy is transferred to the absorbing material. The
amount of energy transferred per unit mass of material is the “absorbed dose” of
which the unit in current use is the gray (Gy). Absorbed dose was formerly
expressed in a unit called the rad (100 rad = 1 gray).

• Sievert (Sv)- When a dose of radiation is absorbed in living matter, a biological

effect may be produced. The size of this effect depends upon the type of radiation
involved (i.e. alpha, beta, gamma, neutrons, etc).

Factors to consider to reduce radiation exposure

1. Time
• The dose of radiation a person receives depends on how long the person is near
radiation dose.

2. Distance
• The radiation dose a person receives depends strongly on how close the person is
to the source.

3. Shielding
• One way to minimize the amount of radiation that reaches people is to put some
material between them and a radiation source.
• Shielding varies accordingly to the nature of material and thickness, depending
upon the energy and type of radiation emitted.