Effects of Ionizing Radiation
- Extra safety precautions are required when dealing with Ionizing radiation because we cannot see it, hear it, taste it, smell it, or feel it in any way.
- This type of radiation disrupts some of the atoms in its path causing them to separate into electrically charged (Positive and Negative) components called ions. This is why it is called ionizing radiation.
- Since our bodies are made of atoms, ionizing radiation can be harmful to living tissue. The atoms in our bodies become biologically useless if divided into ions.
- Trillions of atoms exist in our bodies and if a few of them are ionized, we suffer no real harm. But large doses of ionizing radiation can cause sickness, cancer, birth defects or even death.
