Banana dose
A banana contains an isotope of potassium (40K) which is naturally radioactive.
There is so much of it that it radiates 0.1 µSv (dose that the person receives eating a banana).
Does this mean eating bananas is dangerous??????
Not unless you overdo it ;)
The average dose
The average dose of ionizing radiation received by an average person on the planet in one year is: 3 mSv A person receives radiation because he/she lives on Earth and the following things have effect on him/her:
cosmic rays, noble gas radon from the ground, environmental radiation (rock), food, people around him/her
A banana contains an isotope of potassium (40K) which is naturally radioactive.
There is so much of it that it radiates 0.1 µSv (dose that the person receives eating a banana).
Does this mean eating bananas is dangerous??????
Not unless you overdo it ;)
The average dose
The average dose of ionizing radiation received by an average person on the planet in one year is: 3 mSv A person receives radiation because he/she lives on Earth and the following things have effect on him/her:
cosmic rays, noble gas radon from the ground, environmental radiation (rock), food, people around him/her
After all, by living on Earth we are exposed to a whole host of sources of ionizing radiation, every day, to a lesser or greater extent.
And... don't think that bananas are dangerous, we just used them to better illustrate how much we are affected by radiation.
And... don't think that bananas are dangerous, we just used them to better illustrate how much we are affected by radiation.
A person also has potassium 40 in his/her body,
but also radioactive carbon (14C).
An average person (weighing approximately 70 kg) has enough potassium 40 that he/she receives from him/herself a dose of around 390 µSv per year!!! Converted into bananas... that equals 3,900 bananas, without eating a single one!
If you live approximately 80 km from a coal thermal power plant,
you receive a dose of 0.3 µSv per year.
As if you ate another 3 bananas.
This is because there are naturally occurring radioactive elements in the coal that is burned in the thermal power plant (uranium, thorium...).
Natural hot water springs are also natural sites of radioactive isotopes coming out of the earth's core.
Spending an hour in one of these springs
is equal to eating
around 25 bananas (2.5 µSv).
Getting a tooth X-rayed
also exposes a person to radiation.
One image is approximately 5 µSv, or 50 bananas.
Two and a half hours of flying on a plane (approximately 1,500 km) exposes us to cosmic ray radiation. The closer we are to sea level, the smaller the level of radiation.
The higher we climb – the greater the radiation.
2.5 hours on a plane equals around 10 µSv, i.e. 100 bananas!!!
However, since we don't eat ONLY bananas...
other food and water contribute to our annual dose as well, in average with 400 µSv, i.e. 4,000 bananas!
A lung X-ray adds another 200 bananas (20 µSv).
