Americans Get the Most Medical Radiation in the World
June 15th, 2010Via: AP:
We fret about airport scanners, power lines, cell phones and even microwaves. It’s true that we get too much radiation. But it’s not from those sources — it’s from too many medical tests.
Americans get the most medical radiation in the world, even more than folks in other rich countries. The U.S. accounts for half of the most advanced procedures that use radiation, and the average American’s dose has grown sixfold over the last couple of decades.
Too much radiation raises the risk of cancer. That risk is growing because people in everyday situations are getting imaging tests far too often. Like the New Hampshire teen who was about to get a CT scan to check for kidney stones until a radiologist, Dr. Steven Birnbaum, discovered he’d already had 14 of these powerful X-rays for previous episodes. Adding up the total dose, “I was horrified” at the cancer risk it posed, Birnbaum said.
I hate it when they mix types of “radiation”.
They actually screw it up in the story. They mention MRI is safe. MRI still has the same type of radiation that is put off by power lines, cell phones, and microwave ovens.
The one that they’re complaining about is ionizing radiation, which does come from x-rays, and exposure to radioactive materials (and other sources). The other is non-ionizing radiation, which is present anywhere there is a RF transmission (TV, radio, cell phones, etc) or magnetic field (power lines, electric blankets, etc).
Both can be harmful for their own reasons. ionizing radiation is deadlier quicker, unless you stand yourself in front of a big microwave transmitter with the power cranked up (Cook for 3 minutes on “Broadcast to Mars”, turn, and cook for 2 more minutes. Allow 2 minutes to cool before serving)
If you want to get away from all of it, you’d better find yourself a dark hole somewhere, where there’s no radio or tv reception, or even light. (light classifies as non-ionizing radiation).