Raidation This research examines the concept

This research examines the concept that "all radiation is dangerous" from three perspectives: as a matter of scientific fact or truth, as a policy basis for radiation protection programs, and as a warning for everyday precaution among a general public. Beyond differences in radiation types, substantial differences in the sciences can be invoked to consider the truth of a question. The bulk of this work is addressed to biophysics, agriculture, and medicine. The premises will be considered as follows: Is there any benefit (as opposed to danger) that can result from any level of irradiation?; Can there be a threshold level of radiation of any kind above zero below which no deleterious effects will be manifested among plants, animals, or minerals?

Defining the units for ionizing and nonionizing radiation sizes or doses is important. Optical radiation is electro-magnetic energy spanning the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared spectra, whose defining units appear to be wavelength, in nanometers (a billionth of a meter or 10 Angstrom Units). The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), which is the premiere U.S. occupational-health scientific body (though not a government agency), defines the wavelength ranges currently as shown in Table 1 (ranges with which McKinlay, et al. agreed some years ago ). The sun emits all of these wavelengths, plus the still smaller X-rays (to 10-4 nm) and the still larger microwave

of nonionizing radiation, to include infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light, as well as other electromagnetic energy sources, McKinlay, et al. reported that too little sunlight in the work place of coal miners of the 19th century had led to a 1 percent incidence of miners' nystagmus--involving "rapid involuntary movements of the eyeball." Also, they reported on rickets among children both in northern England (light-skinned populations) and on the Indian subcontinent resulting from a vitamin D deficiency or lack of sunlight or UV-B light in the 280 -320 nanometer wavelengths, sufficient in amount for the skin to generate "calciferol," plus a similar condition resulting in loss of calcium, progressively, in old people, known as osteomalacia. These authors examined the efficacy and possible hazards of using a wide variety of nonionizing radiation sources, including incandescent lamps, low- and high-pressure discharge lamps, fluorescent lamps, compact and linear arc lamps, carbon arcs, solid state lamps, (photographic) flash lamps (bulbs) and flashtubes, and welding arcs. They report that data about the users of sunbeds, solaria, and psoriasis treatment cabinets "clearly indicate that an exposure time of at least 5,000 s (

Category: Science - R