Key Facts about: Radioactivity
Artificial sources: Medical
United Kingdom
Radioactive materials are used in some medical procedures.
The average annual dose from medical exposure is estimated to be 0.37 (millisieverts) mSv, but there is considerable variation from person to person ranging from no exposure to many tens of millisieverts.
There are two main sources of exposure from radiation used in medical diagnosis:
- X-ray examinations, including CT (computerised tomography) is, by far the largest, source
- the second source is from nuclear medicine, where patients are administered with radionuclides for various tests
Additionally, annually, about 140,000 patients receive radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer. The absorbed dose in the target tissue is large, as the intention is to destroy or control the cancer. Exposure to levels of radiation received in radiotherapy is excluded from the estimates of the average annual dose as levels vary and only a small proportion of the population is exposed to this treatment.
In Detail:
Artificial sources of radiation: Medical sources of radiation
Further Information:
- Key Facts:
- Sources,
- Artificial sources:
- Fallout,
- Occupational,
- Products,
- Direct shine
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Page last modified: 16 September 2003
Page published: 10 September 2003