Radiation Poisoning
Radiation Sickness
Radiation poisoning or radiation sickness is actually damage to your body, caused by exposure to radiation through treatment, accident or by exposure to radiation from a bomb or radioactive device.
Radiation sickness is not common, as you must receive a large dose of radiation to become acutely ill from it. The atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan caused radiation illness in the Japanese population. And the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl, Ukraine and Fukushima, Japan (and to a lesser extent, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania) have caused radiation sickness in people who lived near the reactors or worked at them.
Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pennsylvania
What Kind of Radiation Exposure?No amount of radiation exposure is safe. For example, if medical or dental x-rays can’t hurt you, why do you wear a lead apron, and why does the technician leave the room?The answer, of course, is that ANY level of radiation can be harmful. If you receive a very large dose of radiation, you can get radiation poisoning or even radiation burns. But lesser amounts can lead to cancer and other conditions, over time. Here are the most common ways of radiation exposure: |
