Radiation Exposure Comparison

Exposure to Radiation Comparison

We live in a radioactive world – humans always have. Radiation is part of our natural environment. We are exposed to radiation from materials in the earth itself, from naturally occurring radon in the air, from outer space, and from inside our own bodies (as a result of the food and water we consume). This radiation is measured in units called millirems (mrems).

The average dose per person from all sources is about 620 mrems per year. It is not, however, uncommon for any of us to receive less or more than that in a given year (largely due to medical procedures we may undergo). International Standards allow exposure to as much as 5,000 mrems a year for those who work with and around radioactive material.

Calculate your individual exposure levels:

http://www.ans.org/pi/resources/dosechart/

Here’s a glance at a few more everyday sources of radiation exposure and how they rate, according to data from the American Nuclear Society and the Environmental Protection Agency. Keep in mind that the average radiation dose per person per year is about 620 millirem and that the doses below are per-year exposures unless otherwise

Dental X-rays – 0.5 millirem

Smoke detector: 0.008 millirem

Smoking a pack of cigarettes every day of the year: 36 millirem

Flying on a jet plane: 0.5 millirem per hour in the air

Chest X-ray: 10 millirem, Mammogram: 42 millirem, Abdominal X-ray: 700 millirem,

CT scan of the chest: 700 millirem, CT scan of the whole body: 1 rem

Living in a state that borders the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean: 16 millirem

Living on the Colorado Plateau: 63 millirem

Living anywhere else in the continental U.S.: 30 millirem

Living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant: 0.01 millirem

From air (radon): 228 millirem

Viewing a TV or a computer monitor that uses CRT technology: 1 millirem

I calculated my own exposure levels just to see what the average Montezuma County resident can expect for exposures levels using the link on the American Nuclear Society website.

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