Previous in Forum: Instrumentation Amplifier   Next in Forum: How Vibration Switch Works?
Close
Close
Close
7 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Associate

Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 42

What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/10/2011 7:33 AM

What is the safe limit of radioactivity(in curie) for humans. i.e. the radioactivity limit (in curie) which is harmless for human

Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Anonymous Poster #1
#1

Re: What is the safe limit of radioactivity for humans?

08/10/2011 8:00 AM
Register to Reply
Guru
United States - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Power Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: California, USA, where the Godless live next door to God.
Posts: 4665
Good Answers: 804
#2

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/10/2011 12:23 PM

I doubt you will ever get a definitive answer to that. It depends on your point of view. If you are the emmitter, your definition of "safe" is very different from what the definition would be for the receiver because ABSOLUTELY safe for the receiver would be zero. Anyhting more than that is going to fall into the category of "acceptable risk" and that is usually defined by the emmitters using a cost/benefit analysis.

__________________
** All I every really wanted to be, was... A LUMBERJACK!.**
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1895
Good Answers: 44
#3

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/10/2011 1:09 PM

It's not the level of radiation per-se, but the exposure limits. Each country and regulatory agency sets their own limits.

There is also the consideration for types of radiation i.e., alpha, beta, gamma, neutron...

Smoke detectors utilize less than or equal to 1 microcurie of (typically) Americium 141. Exposure times for those devices, well, how long have you had one in your house? <1% of the emissions is typically neutron, the rest is alpha, blocked by the foil envelope which surrounds the chamber.

I can only speak of the US DoD standards:

NAVMED P-5055 states: "The Administrative Control Level of 0.5 rem per calendar year is hereby established for the purpose of reducing the total man-rem from RASP sources of ionizing radiation."

Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 7025
Good Answers: 207
#4

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/10/2011 3:19 PM

you're decaying as we speak...

Register to Reply
Guru
United States - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Petroleum Engineering - New Member Hobbies - Target Shooting - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Spring, Texas
Posts: 3403
Good Answers: 150
#5

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/11/2011 11:46 AM

there is no absolutely "safe" level. ANY level can cause damage, but it is unavoidable. walking out into the sunlight or eating your food or breathing the air or drinking your water exposes you to radiation. Most things have a certain amount of radioactivity associated with them. Different standards groups have attempted to define a level at which the risks associated with that level of exposure are "acceptable" but the definition of "acceptable" is somewhat dependent on who you ask and what you base it on.

__________________
Who is John Galt?
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1895
Good Answers: 44
#6
In reply to #5

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

08/11/2011 2:35 PM

What's acceptable to an astronaut? What's acceptable to a cancer patient?

Good points. I was totally surprised when during my initial course of study to find out how many environmental challenges there were to exposure. Every time I eat a banana or change the litter box I absorb a little more.

Lord only knows about the Radon levels in each country.

Register to Reply
Participant

Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 4
#7

Re: What is the Safe Limit of Radioactivity for Humans?

09/17/2011 7:16 AM

2 Millirems in any one (1) hour or,

100 Millirems in any 7 consecutive days ;

0.5 rem in any period of 1 calendar year.

This is the standard which we are using in one of the chemical plant is Saudi

Arabia, so what were less than the abouve is safe limi

Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Register to Reply 7 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (1); cuba_pete (2); Fredski (1); JRaef (1); lmartin (1); Rorschach (1)

Previous in Forum: Instrumentation Amplifier   Next in Forum: How Vibration Switch Works?

Advertisement