Radiation and other radioactive materials are the part of our surrounding. Radiation in our environment generally comes from cosmic radiation, which originates in the outer space, or from the radioactive materials that naturally occur in our earth and bodies. Together, they are called background radiation.
Everybody is exposed to the background radiation daily. Additionally, radiation & radioactive materials are made by various human actions. Radiation is generally produced by the x-ray equipment & by particle accelerators that are used in medicine and research. Radioactive materials are made in the particle accelerators and nuclear reactors.
Primary Objective of the Radiation Protection
The primary objectives of the protección radiológica are minimizing health effects because of radiation. Before formulating right countermeasures, we need to understand biological effects of radiation.
The biological effects are primarily classified in “Tissue Reactions” & “Stochastic effects”. For Tissue Reactions, threshold level of the absorbed dose exists, over which radiation can bring some detrimental effects to your health. For stochastic effect, threshold doesn’t exist, but possibility of having the detrimental effect will be proportional to dose absorbed. Looking at the above characteristics, the primary aim of the radiation protection is:
- Avoid deterministic effects
- Lower possibility of stochastic effects.
Time, Distance & Shielding
All these three actions reduce the exposure of radiation in a same way as it will protect you against the overexposure to sun:
Time: For the people who are highly exposed to radiation besides natural background radiation, minimizing or limiting exposure time decreases dose from its radiation source.
Distance: As heat from the fire reduces when you move far away, radiation dose reduces dramatically when you increase the distance from this source.
Shielding: Different darriers of concrete, lead, and water offer protection to penetrate gamma rays & x-rays. For this reason, some radioactive materials get stored under water and in lead-lined or concrete rooms, and dentists place the lead blanket over patients getting their teeth x-rays. Thus, inserting right shield between you & radiation source can reduce and eliminate dose you get.
Making Certain Improvements in Safety of Radiation
The best part is there are many different ways that healthcare facilities will make various radiation safety improvements. The first step is requiring everything that works with and around radiation, which includes equipment operators, physicians, nurses, technologists, anesthesiologists, and others take the radiation safety course. Even though some might argue that there is not any time in a work day, it should be made the top priority.
