What is the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation?
Non-ionizing radiation is all around us and we use it every day to talk on cellular phones, cook food, and watch T.V. Non-ionizing radiation does not have sufficient energy to create ion pairs that damage the DNA of living organisms. Examples of non-ionizing radiation are radio waves and microwaves. Ionizing radiation has sufficient energy to displace, and damage genes contained in DNA. Examples of ionizing radiation are X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, protons, alpha particles, and beta particles. We are exposed to ionizing radiation during our daily lives, some comes from space and some is emitted from naturally occurring radioactive sources in the earth such as radon.
