questions on exposure types
A nuclear engineer was explaining the other day that there is a difference between an exposed dose (such as background radiation) versus a consumed or "committed" dose (such as that one may drink in milk or water). Can you explain this to me and also if this is true why does the government and media constantly use it as a comparison? Just seeking clarification. Thank you.
"At this level, you would need to drink 632 liters of this rain water to obtain the same radiation effects you obtain on a round-trip flight between San Francisco and Washington D.C. Therefore, the increase in radiation levels in the rain water due to the events in Japan remain extremely small."
I also have asked the Berkeley folks to stop using this...
comparison and their own FAQ says they are not comparable.
Pediatrician Helen Caldicott has stated that the harmful effect of radionuclides is multiplied when it is ingested and absorbed into the organs such as the thyroid or liver or lungs.
In other words a radioactive particle of radioiodine absorbed into the thyroid will have massively more damaging impact on the dna and cells and function of the thyroid than if it is received via an external exposure (drinking water vs. washing in it if it is irradiated).
If it accumulates there the damage is compounded.
These are two totally different exposures (external vs. internal) and the radionuclides and exposure type is different (solar/cosmic external radiation in flying vs ingestinf radioiodine or radio-cesium in milk, food, air and water.
The team has said they will try to get a health physicist to address these issues on this board as they are NOT health physicists and are not qualified to really address the risks -- but they ARE qualified, I believe, to determine what the quantifiable exposure is if we breath, drink, and eat irradiated substances. Hopefully health physicists will address the risks and we hope will use this data to assess the actual increase in cancers, birth defects, infant mortality, spontaneous abortions and other health problems (hypothyroid disorder and metabolic syndrome) from these exposures.