Radiation dose limits are tricky!
Theyāve been difficult to set properly
Limits on acceptable radiation dose got smaller and smaller over the years, in parallel with discoveries about the biological effects
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#physics #typefully #radiation
Back in the early days, short after radioactivity was discovered, limits on exposure time were based only on the effects we could see, such as:
ā¢ skin rashes
ā¢ burns
ā¢ ulcers
ā¢ vomiting
ā¢ ā¦
In 1902 the first recommendation on radiation exposure was set to 10 rad / day orā¦
ā¦3000 rad / year!
But nobody knew the effects deep inside our cellsā¦ š
Then, the effects on cells and organs were found
And later the effect of radiation on our DNA was discovered!
ā¦and a lot of the official radiation dose limits were rewritten
Today, many countries set max acceptable dose limit to ~0.1 rem / year (1 mSv/y)
ā¦that is, about 10ā000 times lower than initially set!! š±
Radiation protection has done major steps in protecting us from the radiation technologyš
P.S. a few notes on quantities:
ā¢ for electrons and photons (that is, ābetaā and āgammaā radiation) 1 rad is equal to 1 rem
ā¢ and 1 rem is about 10 mSv
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Questions? Just ask in the comments! š
I love questions! š¤
Dr Riccardo M. Bianchiš„ Physicist at CERN
@drric_physics
PHYSICS here!āļø ā¦you know, I love that stuff! š Iām a particle physicist at @CERN š„where I work on the @ATLASExperiment. Here on Twitter, I write about CERN, new discoveries, and amazing science! š Follow me for a guided, well-explained tour to the most fundamental secrets of our beloved Universe! āØ See you soon, and have a nice day! š ā He/Him