Does Radiation Present a Hazard to Public Health?
People have always lived with small amounts of natural background radiation with no ill effects. Yet, we know that extremely large doses of radiation are hazardous. Too much radiation can cause sickness, increased cancer risk, or death. We usually measure the biological effects of radiation in a unit called a millirem (mrem). Most people receive a total of about 300 mrem of radiation a year from all sources – both natural and man-made. Most of this exposure comes from natural radiation in the environment and medical diagnosis and treatment. Limits for radiation exposure from man-made sources have been established through extensive scientific research. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) continually reviews these limits to be sure they do not represent a significant risk to public health. Permitted radiation dose levels for radiation workers are higher than for the public. This is because these workers voluntarily accept employment where they know they might be exposed to radia
