1. How the Harmful
Effects of Radiation can
Affect Human Health
Layal K.Jambi
EUS2, University of Surrey
March 2012

2. Out Line
•History of Radiation
•What is exposure?
•What is Radiation?
•Effects of Radiation
•Radiation Protection

3. History of Radiation
•Since the 1900s, expert scientists have been aware of
beneficial as well as the possibility of the harmful
effects of ionizing radiation
•By using the knowledge of radiation hazards:
–Radium-dial printers.
–Uranium miners.
–Early medical radiation workers.
–Japanese atomic bomb survivor.
–Evacuees from Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster

4. Exposure
•The actual process of humans being exposed to
radiation or radioactive material

5. Radiation
•Transfer of energy that result either because of a
change occurring naturally within an atom (e.g.
radioactive decay) or a process caused by the
interaction of a particle with an atom

7. Ionizing Radiation
•When radiation passes through matter it produces
positively and negatively charged particles (ions(.

8. Sources of Ionizing Radiation

11. Effects of Radiation

12. Chain of Events Following Exposure to
Ionizing Radiation

13. Biological Effects

15. Radiation Protection
•Limit and minimize the risk for people and
environment generated by the use of ionizing
radiation, as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA(

17. References
•Harbison, S & Martin, A. (2006). An Introduction to Radiation Protection. 5th
Ed. London: Hodder Arnold.
•IAEA. (2007). Safety Standards for Protecting People and Environment.
Vienna: IAEA.
•Kron, T & Trapp J. (2008). An Introduction to Radiation Protection in Medicine.
New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
•Maguire, G & Noz, M. (2007). Radiation Protection in the Health Care.
London: World Scientific.
•Martin, C & Sutton, D. (2002). Practical Radiation Protection in Health Care.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
•Ritenour, E & Sherer, M & Visconti, P. (2011). Radiation Protection in Medical
Radiography. 6th
Ed. UK: Mosby Elsevier