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Environmental and Background Radiation

The following FAQs have been developed by our topic editors for this category:

  HPS FAQ   Is Anything We Use in Everyday Life Radioactive?
  HPS FAQ   Pregnancy and Flying
  HPS FAQ   Radiation Exposure During Commercial Airline Flights
  HPS FAQ   Solar Flares and Air Travel
  HPS FAQ   Space Flight and Radiation/Radiation on Other Planets
  HPS FAQ   What Are Some Sources of Radiation Exposure?

The following health physics questions have been answered by an expert and approved by our editors for inclusion in our "Ask the Experts" feature. Click on the question to see the answer.

Questions in this Category Are in the Following Subcategories:
 
  •  Building and Construction Material
  •  Fallout
  •  Food, Plants, Animals
  •  General
  •  Geological Formation, Ores
  •  In the Body
  •  Sampling
  •  Soil
  •  Water
  •  Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)
  •  Aircraft and Space Radiation
  •  Environmental Software
  •  Miscellaneous
 
Building and Construction Material
 
Q25   –   Will phosphogypsum have an ill effect if used for plasterboard?
Q247   –   Radioactivity of fire brick
Q456   –   Natural radioactivity in plasterboard
Q629   –   Phosphogypsum
Q1852   –   Phosphogypsum in roadbeds
Q1898   –   Radium deposits in a structure
Q3121   –   Fly ash
Q5434   –   Radium equivalent activity
Q5868   –   Concrete for shielding
Q5888   –   Granite countertops
Q6058   –   Uranium in tiles
Q6969   –   Granite counter tops
 
Fallout
 
Q966   –   Fallout in Guam
Q1030   –   Fallout in the Pacific
Q1757   –   Fallout studies
Q4099   –   Measuring radiation levels in Belarus
Q4140   –   Contamination in groundwater
 
Food, Plants, Animals
 
Q36   –   What is the normal C-14 content for pine trees in California?
Q1147   –   Peanuts and radioactivity
Q1946   –   Food with high radioactivity
Q3137   –   Doses from cigarette smoking
Q4806   –   Psyllium fiber
Q5181   –   Table salt
Q5929   –   Stainless steel cookware
Q5944   –   Naturally radioactive foods
Q6254   –   Salt substitute and potassium-40
 
General
 
Q88   –   What is the rate of natural background radiation?
Q133   –   Should I be concerned about aircraft gauges becoming radioactive?
Q178   –   What is the daily dose of natural background radiation?
Q192   –   Is it safe to use a Class II safety cabinet to handle radioactive powders?
Q210   –   How do I determine background radiation levels?
Q682   –   Environmental monitoring training
Q689   –   Background levels for various states
Q824   –   Radiation in everyday life
Q909   –   Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
Q922   –   Correlation between background radiation and cancer
Q943   –   Adverse impacts due to natural radiation
Q979   –   Naturally occurring radioactive materials
Q1044   –   What are the levels of background radiation throughout the United States?
Q1163   –   Reporting method
Q1322   –   What is cosmic radiation?
Q1471   –   Thorium calculations
Q1637   –   Old thorium nitrate
Q1640   –   Body exposure to background radiation
Q1880   –   Radiation from coal ash
Q3509   –   Neutron background levels
Q4886   –   Are nuclear events induced by lightning?
Q5231   –   Old hospital used for living space
Q5554   –   Fluctuations of background doses
Q5697   –   Background radiation in various countries
 
Geological Formation, Ores
 
Q185   –   What are the risks of playing on an abandoned uranium mine?
Q343   –   Orphan Mine, Grand Canyon
Q1825   –   Radioactive rock
Q1952   –   Fossils and uranium
Q2345   –   PPM in rocks
Q2842   –   Grand Canyon mine
Q2867   –   Center of the Earth
Q5847   –   Hazards of pitchblende
Q5970   –   Sniffed autunite sample
 
In the Body
 
Q187   –   Can you measure radioactivity in your body?
Q322   –   How much potassium-40 and carbon-14 are in the human body?
Q1617   –   Radiation from humans
Q3413   –   Strontium-90
 
Sampling
 
Q262   –   Sampling contaminated ground water
Q3752   –   Radon daughter contamination
 
Soil
 
Q159   –   Is there data on the absorption and desorption rates for T20?
Q599   –   Is radioactive soil a threat to health?
Q985   –   Plutonium in soils in New Mexico
Q2304   –   Soil radioactivity research
Q5488   –   Background due to accidents and nuclear testing
Q5680   –   Background on Vypeen Island, India
Q6510   –   High radioactivity in Baku, Azerbaijan
 
Water
 
Q184   –   Can bleeding ulcers be caused by 6.0 pCi/L radium-226?
Q258   –   When showering, is there a skin contamination problem from radioactivity ?
Q639   –   Radium in drinking water
Q724   –   Plutonium in water
Q729   –   Correlation between radon and radium in water
Q1143   –   Would blasting affect uranium in water?
Q1211   –   Radium in drinking water
Q1379   –   Uranium in drinking water
Q2377   –   Radium in city water
Q2816   –   Uranium-laden ion exchange resin
Q3383   –   Radium in Drinking Water
Q3399   –   Risk from Radium in Water
Q4676   –   Groundwater-Storm-water levels
Q4860   –   Removal of radionuclides
Q5873   –   Uranium in drinking water
Q6525   –   Water flow causing radiation in building
 
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)
 
Q179   –   I would like information on radium zinc sulfite.
Q482   –   What is the MAC for potassium-40?
Q573   –   Is Autunite dangerous?
Q620   –   Cerium oxide
Q661   –   Naturally occurring radioactive elements
Q681   –   Radioactivity of hafnium
Q933   –   Natural elements
Q1009   –   What is NORM?
Q1348   –   NORM Scale Production
Q1435   –   Is platinum radioactive?
Q1449   –   Autunite
Q1606   –   NORM limits
Q1835   –   NORM guidelines
Q2298   –   Release of radon from deep mines
Q2494   –   Disposal/Treatment of NORM with Cerium Ammonium Nitrate and Cerium Chloride
Q2596   –   Thorium Nitrate as Chemical Reagent
Q3056   –   High-grade uranium ore
Q3274   –   Definition of NORM
Q3470   –   Plutonium in Petroleum
Q3536   –   Relate µR/hr and pCi/g
Q3579   –   Old vase
Q4734   –   Earthquakes and background radiation
Q5207   –   Gas lantern mantle
Q5650   –   Possession of thorium nitrate reagent
Q7501   –   Use of samarium powder
 
Aircraft and Space Radiation
 
Q104   –   What doses are received in space?
Q160   –   I would like information on radiation on other planets in our solar system.
Q396   –   Proton radiation in space
Q444   –   What is my radiation exposure while flying?
Q627   –   Doses to astronauts
Q753   –   Moon astronauts
Q789   –   In-flight radiation information
Q791   –   Exposures to astronauts
Q941   –   Risks of becoming an airline pilot
Q1161   –   Pilot flying polar routes
Q1266   –   Solar flare radiation
Q1524   –   Altitude effects
Q1549   –   Radiation on the moon and Mars
Q1764   –   Flying below 6,000 feet
Q1834   –   Flying and cancer
Q1930   –   Solar flares
Q1983   –   Lead blankets
Q2120   –   Is it safe to nurse?
Q2161   –   Space radiation effects
Q2256   –   Fertility
Q2316   –   Ultraviolet exposure
Q2821   –   Shielding on the moon
Q2851   –   Flying limit for children
Q2909   –   Small Planes
Q3168   –   Flying after radiation treatment
Q4488   –   Newborn traveling
Q4856   –   Radiation shielding in space
Q4918   –   Pilot wants to monitor exposures
Q5647   –   Measure flight radiation
Q6080   –   Radiation exposure to children flying
Q6801   –   Commercial airline exposure
Q6900   –   Flying in ninth week of pregnancy
Q7221   –   Solar storms/cosmic rays
 
Environmental Software
 
Q103   –   Where can I get a program called HotSpot?
Q329   –   I need a radioactive materials inventory program.
Q364   –   Modeling codes for airborne releases
Q373   –   Software packages for isotope tracking
 
Miscellaneous
 
Q5349   –   Radiation levels around the globe
Q7178   –   Variations in cosmic radiation

The following Web sites may also be useful:

  External Web Site   Estimate Background Dose
  External Web Site   Estimate Flight Radiation (FAA)
  External Web Site   Florida Institute of Phosphate Research
  External Web Site   General Atomics
  External Web Site   NCRP Commentary No. 12
  External Web Site   NCRP Reports 132 and 137
  External Web Site   Radioactivity in Nature (Idaho State University)
  External Web Site   Radon (NRBP)
  External Web Site   Solar Effects and Space Weather (NOAA)
  External Web Site   Space Radiation Health Project - NASA, Johnson Space Center (Home)
  External Web Site   Technologically Enhanced Natural Radiation (EPA)