Is it true that bananas are radioactive and dangerous to health?

The word "radiation" causes many peoplegenuine fear. This is not surprising, because in feature films we are often shown how radiation makes mutants out of people - at least, it causes the development of deadly diseases. In fact, radiation surrounds us everywhere, because even rocks contain a small amount of radioactive elements. You may have heard that even ordinary bananas, which are delivered to Russia from warm countries, have radioactivity. In the framework of this article, we propose once again to recall what radiation is, and also to find out which products have radiation activity. Can bananas cause mutations, or do we have nothing to fear?

Bananas are considered the most radioactive foods, but is it true?

Interesting fact: radiation is often used in medicine.Recently, scientists announced that by passing radiation through a specific area of ​​the human heart, a severe form of arrhythmia can be cured. Details about this can be found here.

What is radiation in simple words

Radiation is any radiation, the transfer of energy intoin the form of electromagnetic waves or subatomic particles. In one of the previous articles, we have already found out that not every radiation is capable of harming the human body. Worth the fear ionizing radiation, which consists of rays or particles that can tear electrons from atoms and molecules. It is in this way that ionizing radiation damages the cells of the body and leads to the destruction of DNA.

Ionizing radiation destroys human DNA

If you want to learn more about radiation, we recommendread this material. It briefly talks about the types of radiation and how to protect yourself from radiation. Pay your attention to the paragraph on what to do in case of radiation contamination!

We also recommend reading about what radiation does to the human body.

Radioactive bananas - myth or reality?

There are radioactive elements in many foods.food, it's true. When a person eats a banana, the mineral potassium penetrates into his body, which plays an important role in the functioning of cells and the formation of nerve and muscle tissues. Together with him, a person consumes a small amount of radioactive potassium-40. The more potassium a person gets, the more radiation they receive. But the dose is always negligible, and can not cause any harm to the body.

When eating bananas, radioactive potassium-40 enters the human body, but it cannot cause any harm.

Seriously - even if a person in one sittingconsumes a dozen bananas, he will not be harmed by radiation. Most likely, there will be problems with digestion, but potassium-40 will not do anything bad. According to scientists, 100 grams of bananas contain about 400 milligrams of potassium. This is less than in dried fruits, 100 grams of which contain up to 1200 milligrams of potassium. In terms of potassium content, bananas are comparable to carrots (320 mg), potatoes (425 mg) and many other vegetables and fruits.

Potassium is also found in many other foods.

Radioactive potassium-40 entering a personeasily excreted from the body. It is believed that to receive a dangerous dose of radiation from a banana, you need to eat at least 250 thousand fruits. You should not be afraid of bananas because of the content of a radioactive element in them.

You will be interested: Why did the frogs in Chernobyl turn black?

Radiation contamination of food

It is important to note that radioactive contaminationenvironment, some foods absorb hazardous substances and become hazardous. It is believed that carrots, cabbage, apples, mushrooms, fish and any meat absorb the most radionuclides in emergency situations. Radiation exposure is especially dangerous when it comes from inside the body - with external exposure, clothing protects a person at least a little. And once inside, radioactive substances affect the cells constantly and it is difficult to stop. Because of this, with any possibility of environmental pollution, you should be as careful as possible with the food you eat.

With radiation contamination, food becomes life-threatening

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To determine the level of ionizing radiationusing a Geiger counter. If any object in a person's environment is radioactive, the apparatus begins to crack. The structure of the Geiger counter is as simple as possible - its final version was invented in 1928, and since then it has hardly changed. The price of a Geiger counter is about 3,000 rubles, you can buy it right now: here is one good model and another option. If you want to know how the Geiger counter works, here is the link.