Myths about radiation
Is it true that iodine protects against radiation contamination?
Are our homes radioactive?
Is it necessary to drink red wine after an X-ray or to eat an apple?
How common are x-rays and fluorography at all?
And how effective are lead bins against radiation?
Myth # 1: "We are being irradiated by enterprises and nuclear power plants"
Partly true. "The contribution of man-made sources to the total irradiation received every year by a Russian is 0,02-0,04%," says Grigory Gorsky, head of the radiation safety monitoring department of St. Petersburg Rospotrebnadzor. - The current system ensures constant levels of public exposure, including when new facilities are commissioned. It's all about the culture of radiation safety: businesses themselves take care to work according to the rules, and supervisory and supervisory bodies monitor their implementation. "
Myth # 2: "X-rays and fluorography do more harm than good"
Myth. 15% of the total radiation dose is received by citizens of our country during medical X-ray and fluorography. Norms for the level of medical exposure do not exist - the norm of 1 millisievert per year can not be exceeded only in the case of fluorography. After all, if a person, for example, heals teeth or a broken leg, the x-ray is done to him as many times as is necessary in terms of treatment tactics. And the benefit of such treatment exceeds the harm from irradiation.
Myth # 3 "After the radiography, you must drink red wine or eat an apple"
Myth, and absolute. Neither the apple nor the wine is capable of reducing the radiation impact. It is much more useful to quit smoking, not to run your own health and exercise, in order to reduce hikes in hospitals, including with the purpose of undergoing radiography.
Myth # 4: "We live in a radioactive environment"
It's true. 85% of the radiation dose received annually by us refers to so-called natural radiation. Part of it comes to us from outer space. But the biggest dose awaits us in our homes, because the materials from which they are made - sand, concrete and crushed stone - contain natural radionuclides. In this connection, in accordance with the legislation, building materials are distributed according to special classes of radioactivity. For the construction of houses, only the first class of radioactivity should be used, the second one for production buildings and roads in the city, the third, the most radioactive - for the construction of roads outside the city. Before putting the house into operation, a special check is carried out to find out which material class was involved in the work. We advise you to take a closer look at this test, if you buy an apartment in a new building, and if possible, order an independent examination.
Myth number 5: "Household appliances in our apartments are fonts"
But this is, rather, a myth. Typically, "fonit" in our homes can only radioactive wrist or desk clock, issued by Soviet enterprises in the late 1960s. When they were manufactured, they used constant-action light components based on radium. If there are such watches in your house - we advise you to hand them over to special reception points for hazardous waste. There it is also necessary to include radioactive compasses, manometers or scales from Soviet tanks and other instruments, which before 1970 it was customary to apply radios based on light.
Myth # 6: "Lead walls protect from radiation"
The truth is only partly. First of all, it should be said that there are several types of radiation, each of which is associated with different types of radioactive particles. So, alpha radiation can stop your everyday clothes and glasses. To protect from beta radiation, aluminum foil is sufficient. But from gamma radiation to save is very difficult. In whatever protective suit you dress, if you are in the area of the source of gamma radiation, you will receive your dose of radiation. It is from this type of radiation that people try to escape in lead cellars and bunkers. However, with the same layer thickness, a layer of concrete or pressed soil will be a little less effective in combating the influence of gamma radiation. Lead is a dense material, which is why it was used in the middle of the last century as a radiation shield. But lead is also a toxic material, so today a thicker layer of concrete is used for the same purposes.
Myth # 7: "Iodine protects against radiation exposure"
Myth. Iodine alone, as well as its compounds, can not withstand radiation. However, doctors recommend that the population take it after anthropogenic disasters. Why? The fact is that radioactive iodine-131, hitting the environment, is rapidly accumulating in the human body, more precisely - in the thyroid gland, sharply increasing the risk of onco and other diseases of this organ. When the thyroid gland is "filled" with another, iodine, safe for our body, there is simply no room for radioactive iodine. But if there is no threat of iodine 131 entering the environment, it is by no means possible to take iodine, as its high doses can cause irreparable harm to the thyroid gland.
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