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Radiation Pollution
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Environmental Pollution
EXPOSURE

Types of Radiation

Radiation is in fact energy that travels in space. More specifically, electromagnetic radiation can be defined as being composed of particles without mass (also called photons) which travel at the speed of light in a wave-like pattern. It is the energy of those photons that is used as criteria to classify various types of electromagnetic radiation. Thus, there are various types of radiations, all being electromagnetic radiation. The following is the increasing order of wavelength and decreasing order of energy and also of frequency between various types of electromagnetic radiation: Gamma-ray X-Ray Ultraviolet light Visible light Infrared light Microwaves Radio waves Below are examples and a brief discussion for each type of radiation: Gamma-rays have the highest energy and frequency and the lowest wavelength. They are emitted by radioactive materials when they undergo nuclear fission such as through the detonation of nuclear weapons and by the generation of power in nuclear power plants. X-Rays - are used in medicine. In Universe, hot gases may emit X-Rays. Ultraviolet light – is emitted by the sun and other hot objects in the space; Visible light – that is the only radiation type that we can perceive. It is emitted by everything: objects and living beings, plants, and even by stars! This is why we see what we see. Infrared light – is emitted by human body (specifically by skin), which is why we can be seen in the night by using night-vision devices (goggles). Infrared light is also used in space research to map the dust between stars. Microwaves – are emitted in the microwave ovens and by radars. They are used in space research to study the structure of galaxies. Radio waves have the lowest energy and frequency but the highest wavelength. They are emitted by radio transmitters, TVs, etc. The radio waves are also emitted by stars and gases in the Universe and may be used in astronomy research. Radioactive materials are those materials or elements that emit radiation, thus they are not stable and get transformed into other radioactive or non-radioactive materials. The harm that can e caused by various radioactive elements is function of their half time (the time needed for their concentration to be reduced to half due to radioactive decay processes). Basically, the higher the half-time, the lower is the threat to human health. There are those radioactive elements with a short and very-short half-time that pose high safety risks. Examples of radioactive elements and their use. There are many radioactive elements (materials) in nature, of which the most used (e.g., in nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons) are: Caesium-137, Strontium-90, Plutonium-238 (primary material in nuclear weapons), Uranium-235. Another almost “classic example of radioactive element” is carbon-14 (C-14) which is commonly used to age-date materials from living organisms over very large periods of time. This is because C14 has a very high half time (of more than a thousand years). C-14 is also used in research projects as a tracer. There are many other radioactive elements with beneficial use, including: Cesium-137 (used to treat cancers), Chromium-51 (used in studies of red blood cell survival), Cobalt-57 and Cobalt-60(in nuclear medicine ), Calcium-47 (in biomedical research), Iodine-123 (to diagnose thyroid diseases), Krypton-85 (in indicator lights), Nickel-63 (in detection of explosives), Radium-226 (in lightning rods), Strontium-85 (in study of bone formation), Thorium-229 (in fluorescent lights), Tritium (in drug metabolism studies), Uranium-234 (in dental fixtures like crowns). Many radioactive materials have half lives of hundreds of thousands of years and thus, once generated, may persist in environment for very long time. Radon is also a common radioactive element with about 55% of our natural radiation exposure caused by this element.