Environmental sources of radiation exposure include cosmic rays, radon, manmade contributions from nuclear facilities, and industries that use radionuclides.
What type of hazard is cosmic rays?
Cosmic radiation is an ionizing radiation, as are radiation sources such as X-rays and that from radioactive materials. Ionizing radiation is a natural part of the environment in which we live and is present in the earth, buildings, the food we eat, and even in the bones of our bodies.
How is radiation an environmental hazard?
Plants and animals within the affected area take up radioactive particles, and these move through the ecosystem through bioaccumulation. Radiation pollution within waterways also accumulates within fish and other aquatic organisms, and runoff from radiation within the soil provides additional contamination.
Is cosmic radiation harmful?
Beyond Low Earth Orbit, space radiation may place astronauts at significant risk for radiation sickness, and increased lifetime risk for cancer, central nervous system effects, and degenerative diseases.
What is considered cosmic radiation?
Radiation from space is called cosmic radiation, which is constantly hitting the Earth. Our solar system's Sun and other stars in the galaxy emit a constant stream of cosmic radiation. In the United States, a person gets about 5% of their annual radiation exposure from cosmic radiation.
What can cosmic radiation do to humans?
Space radiation can lead to other effects. Radiation can alter the cardiovascular system, damaging the heart, harden and narrow arteries, and/or eliminate some of the cells in linings of the blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular disease.
What happens if cosmic rays hit the Earth?
When cosmic rays arrive at Earth, they can collide with the nuclei of atoms in the atmosphere, creating a shower of billions of secondary particles. Until humans built the first particle accelerators in the 1950s, cosmic rays were the only way to study particles smaller than atoms.
What is an example of a radiation hazard?
Exposure to very high levels of radiation, such as being close to an atomic blast, can cause acute health effects such as skin burns and acute radiation syndrome (“radiation sickness"). It can also result in long-term health effects such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Does radiation cause pollution?
This means that any and all these types of radiation can generate radiation pollution if they are enhanced by human activities. However, the magnitude of the pollution generated varies, with higher-risk pollution generated by radiation of higher energy such as gamma-rays regardless of exposure time.
What would happen if a cosmic ray hit Earth?
When the particles in cosmic rays collide with the atoms in at the top of the atmosphere, they burst, tearing apart atoms in a violent collision. The particles from that explosion then keep bursting apart other bits of matter, in a snowballing chain reaction. Some of this atomic shrapnel even hits the ground.