What is radiation and how to protect yourself from it?

For some people this will be a big discovery,but radiation surrounds us everywhere. Rocks like granite and coal contain radioactive uranium and thorium, and tobacco smoke contains polonium-210, a dangerous chemical element that, when ingested, causes mutations and provokes the development of cancer. Even when a person eats an ordinary banana, up to 15 reactions of potassium-40 breakdown occur in his body every second. But this does not mean that eating tropical berries is dangerous - the effect is so weak that it cannot harm health. However, after serious accidents at nuclear power plants and other emergencies, huge amounts of radioactive substances can be released into the environment, which can even lead to death. But there are ways to protect yourself from radiation, and everyone needs to know about them.

Ionizing radiation can cause great harm to health, and you need to be able to protect yourself from it.

What types of radiation exist?

In a broad sense, radiation is any radiation thateven sunlight. Not all types of radiation are deadly for people, in meteorology there is even the term "solar radiation", which is needed only to estimate the amount of heat that the surface of our planet receives from the Sun.

Solar radiation can cause serious harm only with prolonged exposure.

Dangerous is radiation, which meansis ionizing radiation. It consists of beams or particles that are capable of tearing electrons from atoms and molecules. It is ionizing radiation that damages living cells and leads to the destruction of DNA. It comes in many forms: gamma and x-rays, beta particles, alpha particles, neutrons, and so on.

Ionizing radiation destroys the human body at the genetic level

To protect against each of these types,different methods. For example, even foil or paper can protect against alpha particles. Neutrons well absorb substances that are rich in hydrogen atoms - water, paraffin, and so on. For protection against gamma rays and X-rays, it is best to use a lead coating. That is why when dentists take x-rays of their teeth, patients are covered with a lead apron. And nuclear reactors are wrapped in a multilayer shell, which is designed to protect against different types of radiation.

Nuclear reactors are wrapped in a multilayer shell to protect against ionizing radiation

See also: Nuclear apocalypse by mistake - how many times the world was half a step away from disaster

Ways to protect against radiation

In the field of radiation biology, within whichscientists study the effect of various kinds of radiation on people and animals, there is a direction of radiation protection. This is the name of a set of measures to protect organisms from ionizing radiation and weaken its damaging effect. In the course of numerous works, several methods of protection against radiation have been developed:

• distance protection, which implies the maximum distance of living organisms from the source of ionizing radiation;
• time protection, consisting in the maximum reduction of the time of exposure to radiation on the body;
• shielding protection, in which organisms are protected by an outer shell of rubber, aluminum, lead and other materials;
• chemical protection, which means the use of anti-radiation drugs that increase the body's resistance to ionizing radiation.

Find out the level of radiation you can use the Geiger counter, which I talked about in this article

What to do with radiation pollution?

In the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant oranother incident, which is accompanied by the release of hazardous substances into the environment, it is recommended to move as far as possible from the source of pollution. Thus, a person follows the first two methods of protection against radiation: increases the distance from the source of ionizing radiation and minimizes the time of its exposure to the body. At the same time, it is important to look for a place to hide, and it is advised to be as close as possible to the center of the building - the more walls between a person and the environment, the better it is protected.

Frame from the Soviet filmstrip 1968

Good, if between a person and a polluted environment there are barriers made of lead, concrete or water that protect against gamma rays and x-rays.

Being in cover is important by any meansto stay connected. It's not so much about having a phone, but about having a battery-powered radio with you. This is necessary in order to get news from emergency services - they can tell you what to do next.

Staying in hiding, it's important to always stay aware of what's going on outside

On chemical protection against the effects of radiation duringmany open sources deliberately choose not to speak. The fact is that an ordinary person will not be able to independently protect himself from radiation with the help of drugs - only professional doctors can do this. And all because anti-radiation drugs have a huge number of side effects and, if used carelessly, can cause much more harm. For example, some of them greatly reduce the concentration of oxygen in the tissues, thereby reducing the possibility of the formation of radicals at the time of irradiation.

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If you are interested in what radiation does to the human body, we have a comprehensive article on the subject - here is the link.