Stichting Laka

Publication Laka-library:
Radiation, people and the environment (2004)

Author	IAEA
Date	February 2004
Classification	6.01.4.70/81 (RADIATION - CONSEQUENCES - OTHER)
Front

Chapter 1 Introduction

Radiation is a fact of life. We live in a world in which radiation is naturally present
everywhere. Light and heat from nuclear reactions in the Sun are essential to our
existence. Radioactive materials occur naturally throughout the environment, and
our bodies contain radioactive materials such as carbon-14, potassium-40 and
polonium-210 quite naturally. All life on Earth has evolved in the presence of
this radiation.

Since the discovery of X rays and radioactivity more than 1 00 years ago, we have
found ways of producing radiation and radioactive materials artificially. The first use
of X rays was in medical diagnosis, within six months of their discovery in 1895. So
a benefit from the use of radiation was established very early on, but equally some of
the potential dangers of radiation became apparent in the doctors and surgeons who
unwittingly overexposed themselves to X rays in the early 1900s. Since then, many
different applications of radiation and radioactive materials have been developed.

We can classify radiation according to the effects it produces on matter, into
ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation includes cosmic rays,
X rays and the radiation from radioactive materials. Non-ionizing radiation
includes ultraviolet light, radiant heat, radio waves and microwaves.

This book deals with ionizing radiation, a term, which for simplicity, is often
shortened to just radiation. lt has been prepared by the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) in co-operation with the National Radiological Protection Board
(United Kingdom) as a broad overview of the subject of ionizing radiation, its
effects and uses, as well as the measures in place to use it safely.

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