Answer to Question #12149 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Effects

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

Q

What would happen to insects in the event of a widespread nuclear attack?

A

The insects overall would fare much better than mammals, including humans. A chart illustrates the range of a lethal dose, given over a short period of time (an acute radiation exposure), for several different species.

The chart indicates the ranges for radiation doses needed to cause death within days from a single exposure.

Mammals:  30 to 117 kilogray (kGy)
Birds:  70 to 250 kGy
Fish:  85 to 800 kGy
Amphibians:  93 to 850 kGy
Reptiles:  95 to 730 kGy
Crustaceans:  100 to 3,200 kGy
Insects:  105 to 45,000 kGy

It is important to note that for an unprotected person when an atomic blast occurs, the distance for death caused by acute radiation exposure from the bomb, not including radioactive fallout, is about the same distance as the killing effects of the thermal/heating effects of the atomic blast. If an unsheltered person survives the intense heat from a nuclear weapon, and later is sheltered or upwind from the fallout, that person's chances of survival are quite good.

John Hageman, CHP

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