Since there are too many people misbelieving that we are dying from any radiation exposure, there is a need to belie the most common radiation myths.
Two-headed cowThe real story was that a 2-month-old infant was put on the conveyer at the airport and was screened by the x-ray unit, normally used for looking at carry-on luggage. Once the operator noticed the outline of the baby, he immediately turned the x-rays off. So, the amount of radiation exposure the baby could have received was at the worst case the same as people receive every day from natural background radiation. The norm of daily radiation exposure is 0.001 rem, which is 100,000 times less than the dose that might cause the baby to get sick. In fact, there was more harm done to the baby by the ambulance travel and the needle sticks for obtaining blood and other samples to find out whether the radiation caused any effects.
Airport x-ray machinesMany people believe that the metal detectors they had been walking through at the airports are exposing them to radiation. This is not true. However, nowadays there are screening detectors of a next generation out there, which do expose people walking through them to radiation. Still, the rate of radiation it exposes people to is again 5 to 100 times lower than what we receive every day from natural background.
Two-headed cowTwo-headed cow is believed to be a result of radiation released by the local nuclear power plant. In fact, this is the type of myth which can never be formally proved right or wrong, since there's no scientific evidence to claim that it was radiation exposure which caused the abnormality. All people can point at when trying to prove them right is television and comics, like Spiderman and the Hulk. In most cases, people just connect two facts together: the existence of the two-headed cow and the location of a nuclear power plant, and make groundless conclusions.
Radiology x-raysSome people think they get too many x-rays done at the hospital. However, there's no limit on prescribed medical radiation exposure. Besides, it's up to you to refuse to have x-rays done, or ask your physician about the advantages of having one or more x-rays done.
Human-made radiationHuman-made radiation is for some reason considered worse than natural radiation. This is just another myth, because radiation is the same regardless of its source - nature or humans. So, there's no difference between radiation resulted from exposure to nature and human-made radiation.
No harmful radiationWhen people claim that there's no harmful radiation at site, it causes question about whether radioactive material was found at the location at all, and if it was, what made the radiation not harmful. Usually such claims are made when the radioactive material was found at the location, but its amount wasn't enough to cause harm to people. Instead of claiming the radiation is not harmful, people should focus their attention at the question of why it was found at site.
Irradiated foodMany people misbelieve that their food becomes radioactive if it is irradiated, and oppose to the process. However, the truth is that the food doesn't become radioactive because of irradiation and there's no scientific evidence that it forms any harmful chemicals. Instead, food irradiation is good for our food because of many food-borne illnesses and deaths that can be prevented by irradiation. The matter is that irradiation kills the bacteria residing in food which causes people to get sick. Statistics show that if half of the food was irradiated, around 1,000,000 cases of bacterial infections could be avoided, which would save 350 lives annually.
Whole-body CT scanSome people even recommend the others to go to their doctors and ask for a whole-body CT scan in order to make sure they have no cancer. However, this procedure alone won't confirm the presence of cancer, but will only expose you to radioactivity. Nevertheless, lots of free-standing medical clinics with CT units were built with a purpose of satisfying the increased demand for the scans. Meanwhile, the scan is only needed if there are signs of sickness and after conversation with a doctor.
Of course, it would have been great if one simple test was able to find out what is wrong. Unfortunately, current technology can't do that yet, so any tests involving radiation exposure can only be performed with a valid medical reason.
Dental x-rays cause headachesWhile large doses of radiation do cause such effects as nausea and vomiting, small doses do not. So, the dose from such diagnostic medical exams as dental x-rays cannot cause a headache or otherwise make people sick.
Radiation detectors prevent terrorist attackIndeed, radiation detectors at ports of entry like airports and stations are able to detect different threats like explosives and radioactive materials if they are located in incoming containers or on incoming people. However, terrorists can harm people and cause panic in many other ways, which radiation detectors at a port of entry can't prevent.
Potassium iodideThe rumors are that potassium iodide pills are usually given to people living 25 miles far from the nuclear power plant in order to protect them from radiation in case of a release. In fact, taking potassium iodide can only help your thyroid not to take up much of the radioactive iodide as without taking the pills. The pills work by filling up your thyroid gland with potassium iodide, thus leaving less or no room at all for radioactive iodide which can be breathed in or taken in through your mouth. That's it, so the pills don't really protect you from any other types of radiation, as well as they don't protect from the radioiodine outside your body. Finally, the pills are only effective if taken within a few hours before an incident or right after the release of radioactive iodide.
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