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:
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| • Air |
| • Building and Construction Material |
| • Granite and Stone Countertops |
| • General |
| • Water |
| • Geology |
| • Antiques |
| • Airplanes |
| • Chemical Elements and Compounds |
| • Cosmic Radiation |
| • Food and the Human Body |
| • Industry |
| • Measurements and Reporting |
| • Plants and Animals |
| • Rocks, Minerals, and Mines |
| • Software |
| • Soil and Fallout |
• Space Flight
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| |
Air
|
| Q3752 |
– |
Radon daughter contamination |
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Building and Construction Material
|
| Q25 |
– |
Will phosphogypsum have an ill effect if used for plasterboard? |
| Q247 |
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Radioactivity of firebrick |
| Q456 |
– |
Natural radioactivity in plasterboard |
| Q629 |
– |
Phosphogypsum |
| Q1880 |
– |
Radiation from coal ash |
| Q1898 |
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Radium deposits in a structure |
| Q3121 |
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Fly ash |
| Q5231 |
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Old hospital used for living space |
| Q5434 |
– |
Radium equivalent activity |
| Q5868 |
– |
Concrete for shielding |
| Q6058 |
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Uranium in tiles |
| Q7922 |
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Use of naturally radioactive tiles for home flooring |
| Q9011 |
– |
Radiation from flooring material |
| Q9574 |
– |
Dose from volcanic tuff in concrete |
| Q9778 |
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Radiation hazards from brick home |
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Granite and Stone Countertops
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| Q3991 |
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Dose from granite |
| Q6969 |
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Health hazard from granite countertops |
| Q7746 |
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Measurements: Using a GM detector for granite countertops |
| Q7834 |
– |
Determining health hazards from granite countertops |
| Q7855 |
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Measurements: Interpreting GM detector results for granite countertops |
| Q8526 |
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Devices for measuring radiation of granite and stones. |
| Q9809 |
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Quartz countertop |
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General
|
| Q88 |
– |
What is the rate of natural background radiation? |
| Q178 |
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What is the daily dose of natural background radiation? |
| Q689 |
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Background levels for various states |
| Q824 |
– |
Radiation in everyday life |
| Q909 |
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Hunters Point Naval Shipyard |
| Q922 |
– |
Correlation between background radiation and cancer |
| Q943 |
– |
Adverse impacts due to natural radiation |
| Q979 |
– |
Naturally occurring radioactive materials |
| Q1009 |
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What is NORM? |
| Q1044 |
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What are the levels of background radiation throughout the United States? |
| Q1640 |
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Body exposure to background radiation |
| Q3509 |
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Neutron background levels |
| Q5554 |
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Fluctuations of background doses |
| Q5697 |
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Background radiation in various countries |
| |
Water
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| Q184 |
– |
Can bleeding ulcers be caused by low levels of radium in drinking water? |
| Q258 |
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When showering, is there a skin contamination problem from radioactivity? |
| Q262 |
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Sampling contaminated ground water |
| Q482 |
– |
What is the MAC for potassium-40? |
| Q639 |
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EPA limits for radium in drinking water |
| Q724 |
– |
Plutonium in water |
| Q729 |
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Correlation between radon and radium in water |
| Q1143 |
– |
Would blasting affect uranium in water? |
| Q1211 |
– |
Can radium in drinking water cause brain cancer? |
| Q1379 |
– |
Uranium in drinking water |
| Q2377 |
– |
Radium in city water |
| Q2816 |
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Uranium-laden ion exchange resin |
| Q3383 |
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Communities with radium in drinking water |
| Q3399 |
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Risk from radium in water |
| Q4140 |
– |
Contamination in groundwater |
| Q4676 |
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Groundwater-Storm-water levels |
| Q4860 |
– |
Removal of radionuclides |
| Q6525 |
– |
Water flow causing radiation in building |
| Q8147 |
– |
Effect of radium in drinking water on children |
| Q10627 |
– |
Comparing radium and uranium levels in well water |
| |
Geology
|
| Q2867 |
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Center of the Earth |
| Q4734 |
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Earthquakes and background radiation |
| |
Antiques
|
| Q3579 |
– |
Old vase |
| Q5207 |
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Gas lantern mantle |
| |
Airplanes
|
| Q133 |
– |
Should I be concerned about aircraft gauges becoming radioactive? |
| Q444 |
– |
What is my radiation exposure while flying? |
| Q789 |
– |
In-flight radiation information |
| Q941 |
– |
Risks of becoming an airline pilot |
| Q1161 |
– |
Pilot flying polar routes |
| Q1524 |
– |
Altitude effects |
| Q1764 |
– |
Flying below 6,000 feet |
| Q1834 |
– |
Flying and cancer |
| Q1930 |
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Solar flares |
| Q1983 |
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Lead blankets |
| Q2120 |
– |
Is it safe to nurse? |
| Q2256 |
– |
Fertility |
| Q2316 |
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Ultraviolet exposure |
| Q2851 |
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Flying limit for children |
| Q2909 |
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Small Planes |
| Q3168 |
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Flying after radiation treatment |
| Q4488 |
– |
Newborn traveling |
| Q4918 |
– |
Pilot wants to monitor exposures |
| Q5647 |
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Measure flight radiation |
| Q6080 |
– |
Radiation exposure to children flying |
| Q6801 |
– |
Commercial airline exposure |
| Q6900 |
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Flying in ninth week of pregnancy |
| Q7221 |
– |
Solar storms/cosmic rays |
| Q8866 |
– |
Risks from flying cargo in a jet |
| Q9770 |
– |
Radiation exposure to infants and children from flying |
| Q9944 |
– |
Headaches from flying |
| Q10180 |
– |
Should we fly during solar flares? |
| Q10295 |
– |
World War II gauge |
| Q10593 |
– |
Shielding from radiation on an airplane |
| |
Chemical Elements and Compounds
|
| Q179 |
– |
Radium zinc sulfite and the alpha activity of radium |
| Q661 |
– |
Naturally occurring radioactive elements |
| Q681 |
– |
Radioactivity of hafnium |
| Q933 |
– |
Natural elements |
| Q1435 |
– |
Is platinum radioactive? |
| Q1637 |
– |
Old thorium nitrate |
| Q2494 |
– |
Disposal/Treatment of NORM with Cerium Ammonium Nitrate and Cerium Chloride |
| Q2596 |
– |
Thorium Nitrate as Chemical Reagent |
| Q7501 |
– |
Use of samarium powder |
| |
Cosmic Radiation
|
| Q1266 |
– |
Solar flare radiation |
| Q1322 |
– |
What is cosmic radiation? |
| Q7178 |
– |
Variations in cosmic radiation |
| Q10108 |
– |
How much radiation is produced by a super nova? |
| |
Food and the Human Body
|
| Q187 |
– |
Can you measure radioactivity in your body? |
| Q322 |
– |
How much potassium-40 and carbon-14 are in the human body? |
| Q1147 |
– |
Peanuts and radioactivity |
| Q1617 |
– |
Radiation from humans |
| Q1946 |
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Food with high radioactivity |
| Q3413 |
– |
Strontium-90 |
| Q4806 |
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Psyllium fiber |
| Q5181 |
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Table salt |
| Q5929 |
– |
Stainless steel cookware |
| Q5944 |
– |
Naturally radioactive foods |
| Q6254 |
– |
Salt substitute and potassium-40 |
| |
Industry
|
| Q192 |
– |
Is it safe to use a Class II safety cabinet to handle radioactive powders? |
| Q620 |
– |
Cerium oxide |
| Q1348 |
– |
NORM Scale Production |
| Q1835 |
– |
NORM guidelines |
| Q2298 |
– |
Release of radon from deep mines |
| Q3274 |
– |
Definition of NORM |
| Q3470 |
– |
Plutonium in Petroleum |
| Q3536 |
– |
Relate µR/hr and pCi/g |
| |
Measurements and Reporting
|
| Q210 |
– |
How do I determine background radiation levels? |
| Q682 |
– |
Environmental monitoring training |
| Q1163 |
– |
Reporting method |
| Q1471 |
– |
Thorium calculations |
| Q10177 |
– |
Interpreting radiation-meter readings |
| Q10217 |
– |
Materials that affect background radiation measurements |
| Q10383 |
– |
Understanding background measurements from Bangalore, India |
| Q10406 |
– |
Gamma attenuation by soil moisture |
| |
Plants and Animals
|
| Q36 |
– |
What is the normal C-14 content for pine trees in California? |
| Q8533 |
– |
Will gamma radiation affect crops? |
| |
Rocks, Minerals, and Mines
|
| Q185 |
– |
What are the risks of playing on an abandoned uranium mine? |
| Q343 |
– |
Orphan Mine, Grand Canyon |
| Q573 |
– |
Is Autunite dangerous? |
| Q1449 |
– |
Autunite |
| Q1606 |
– |
NORM limits |
| Q1825 |
– |
Radioactive rock |
| Q1952 |
– |
Fossils and uranium |
| Q2345 |
– |
PPM in rocks |
| Q2842 |
– |
Grand Canyon mine |
| Q3056 |
– |
High-grade uranium ore |
| Q5650 |
– |
Possession of thorium nitrate reagent |
| Q5847 |
– |
Hazards of pitchblende |
| Q5970 |
– |
Sniffed autunite sample |
| Q7943 |
– |
Converting uranium rock dose rate to activity |
| Q9107 |
– |
Risks from Marcellus Shale radiation |
| |
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 |
| |
Soil and Fallout
|
| Q159 |
– |
Is there data on the absorption and desorption rates for T20? |
| Q966 |
– |
Fallout in Guam |
| Q985 |
– |
Plutonium in soils in New Mexico |
| Q1030 |
– |
Fallout in the Pacific |
| Q1757 |
– |
Fallout studies |
| Q2304 |
– |
Soil radioactivity research |
| Q4099 |
– |
Measuring radiation levels in Belarus |
| Q5488 |
– |
Background due to accidents and nuclear testing |
| Q5680 |
– |
Background on Vypeen Island, India |
| Q6510 |
– |
High radioactivity in Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Q8040 |
– |
Fallout on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands |
| Q8457 |
– |
Fallout in Southwestern United States |
| Q8887 |
– |
Effects of exposure to background radiation in Utah |
| Q9057 |
– |
Measuring thorium and potassium levels in sand |
| Q9606 |
– |
Measuring natural radionuclides in soil |
| Q10051 |
– |
Effects of nuclear tests in the Montebello Islands |
| |
Space Flight
|
| Q160 |
– |
What is the radiation environment on other habitable planets? |
| Q396 |
– |
Proton radiation in space |
| Q627 |
– |
Doses to astronauts |
| Q753 |
– |
Moon astronauts |
| Q2821 |
– |
Shielding on the moon |
| Q4856 |
– |
Radiation shielding in space |
| Q8406 |
– |
Radiation protection in space |
| |
