Contamination of the Environment With Radioactive Substances and Effect on the Human Body

Abstract

Exposure to radiation does not immediately make a person radioactive. The only type of radiation that is capable of directly causing other material to become radioactive is neutron radiation, which is generally only found inside nuclear reactors or in a nuclear detonation. Anyone in those conditions is, put plainly, going to have bigger problems. However, the ingestion of radioactive material does have the potential of making a person radioactive, at least on a temporary basis. This is the principle behind the medical use of many radioactive materials, as it aids in imaging, diagnosis, and other areas. Between the short half-lives of the elements involved and the body’s natural means of disposing of many radioactive elements, a person’s individual radioactivity is usually short-lived. However, certain types of contamination, depending on the isotopes involved and the availability of treatment, can become more permanently deposited in a person’s organs or bones.