If it starts showing this sort of reading, put on your jogging shoes...
How much radiation is too much? What level is considered safe?
Radiation levels can be a very complicated thing to figure out, with alpha, beta, and gamma rays to understand. I won’t go into details, or you’ll have 10 pages of reading to do, so I’ll just post a chart of what levels of radiation are safe to live in - and when it’s time to start running!
So, here’s a simple, plain-English chart of radiation doses in millisieverts (mSv/h) and microsieverts (µSv/h) per hour. Most dosimeters (the handheld Geiger counters that measure your body’s “Dose”) operate in these units.
Simplified hourly dosage rates
It’s quite a simplified chart, and it helps to know that radiation gets more dangerous, the more your body gets. If you get a big amount of radiation in an hour, it’s more hazardous than getting the same amount over an entire year. This chart is measured in an hourly dose, just like what your meter will probably show on the screen.
I hope it offers some help to those learning to use their radiation meters, and feel free to add more information in the comments below. There’s a very handy radiation level conversion site here too: http://www.radprocalculator.com/Conversion.aspx
* Please feel free to reuse this chart; just be sure to accredit my website.
7:46 pm on May 4th, 2012 1
it’s a good chart for simplying conversions; however it should be noted that The chart is handy for conversion, no doubt. However, there is no ‘safe’ level of radioactive exposure. There is always risk: all exposure a person receives, no matter how small, can lead to cancers or genetic damage or genetic damage to reproductive organs, therefore, to future generations. That’s why man-made radioactive product, through weapons, waste and even medical devices is something that should have ceased long ago. The overuse of medical use of radioactivity should be very strongly considered as it too is hazardous.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/op-eds/radiation-exposure-and-the-power-of-zero
3:12 am on November 16th, 2012 2
I’ve been looking for a table like this for ages, thanks. I live a couple of hundred km from fukushima so this is very helpful when considering the kids.
Cheers