Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vogel Bomb and today's episode is a classic,
Speaker 1: by which I mean it's from the past and from
Speaker 1: our former host, Christian Sager. This one was inspired by
Speaker 1: some of the comments on our YouTube channel. We've done
Speaker 1: an episode about diesel versus nuclear submarines and made a
Speaker 1: perhaps ill conceived joke about nuclear radiation exposure and a
Speaker 1: healthy green glow. To set the record straight about irradiation,
Speaker 1: we created this episode about how radiation sickness really works. Also,
Speaker 1: if you've been watching Chernobyl, this one is pertinent. Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm Christian Sagar and this is brain stuff. For most people,
Speaker 1: ionizing radiation isn't something we need to worry about, but
Speaker 1: some unexpected events can make us sick from radiation, like
Speaker 1: nuclear power plant accidents, atomic bombs, leaks and medical or
Speaker 1: industrial devices or acts of terrorism. And what we know
Speaker 1: about severe radiation sickness is from incidents like these. So
Speaker 1: radiation it's actually everywhere. It's in the atmosphere, the ground,
Speaker 1: the water, and even our own bodies. We call this
Speaker 1: natural background radiation and it's perfectly safe. Radiation strips electrons
Speaker 1: away from atoms, creating a positively charged atom called an ion. Therefore,
Speaker 1: high energy radiation is called ionizing radiation. Releasing the electron
Speaker 1: produces thirty three electron volts of energy, and this heat
Speaker 1: surrounding tissue and disrupts some chemical bonds. Extremely high energy
Speaker 1: radiation can destroy the nuclei of atoms, releasing even more
Speaker 1: energy and causing more damage. The resulting radiation sickness is
Speaker 1: a cumulative effect of all of this damage on a
Speaker 1: human body bombarded with radiation. Now, radiation exposure is measured
Speaker 1: in units called millarem or m rem. Higher readings are
Speaker 1: measured in ms v, which are multiples of one hundred
Speaker 1: m rem. In the US, we get an average annual
Speaker 1: dose of three hundred and sixty m rem. More than
Speaker 1: eight comes from natural background radiation. And there are three
Speaker 1: kinds of ionizing radiation. Alpha particles are the first, and
Speaker 1: they're the least dangerous. They don't penetrate deeply into our
Speaker 1: skin if they do at all, because clothes can stop
Speaker 1: the particles, but they can be inhaled or ingested, usually
Speaker 1: as a raid on gas, and they can also lead
Speaker 1: to lung cancer. Beta particles are another one. These are
Speaker 1: when electrons move quickly with a lot of energy. There
Speaker 1: are eight thousand times smaller than alpha particles, so they
Speaker 1: can penetrate the skin and this can burn us or
Speaker 1: cause tissue damage. Beta particles can be ingested if they
Speaker 1: enter food or water supplies. And then we've got the
Speaker 1: most dangerous, which are gamma rays, extremely high energy that
Speaker 1: travels through matter. Since they have no mass, these can
Speaker 1: be only blocked by several inches of lead or concrete.
Speaker 1: If you're exposed to them, they run through your whole body,
Speaker 1: affecting the tissue and even the marrow of your bones,
Speaker 1: and these cause widespread systemic damage. So how does radiation
Speaker 1: make a sick Well, it deposits energy into our tissue,
Speaker 1: causing cell damage, and this can make our cells abnormal
Speaker 1: or malignant. Huge amounts of radiation can kill within days
Speaker 1: or hours in acute exposure, and frequent exposure to low
Speaker 1: doses over long periods is called chronic exposure. This causes
Speaker 1: a delay in those health effects. However, when we're talking
Speaker 1: about amounts of radiation needed to trigger radiation sickness symptoms,
Speaker 1: it's in terms of total dosage, and this also takes
Speaker 1: into account radiation intensity. How much is absorbed into the
Speaker 1: human body, how long the exposure is, and the types
Speaker 1: of radiation involved, and this is quantified as the civert,
Speaker 1: measured by the absorption of energy multiplied by the radiation type. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, a CT scan is equal to point zero
Speaker 1: one siverts of radiation. Now, federal guidelines limit your maximum
Speaker 1: annual dose to point zero five siverts. The average person
Speaker 1: gets point zero zero three six siverts from background radiation.
Speaker 1: Point seven five siverts can be enough to induce radiation sickness,
Speaker 1: including nausea in a weak immune system. Three siverts is
Speaker 1: more severe, but it won't kill you. Five siverts and
Speaker 1: higher radiation will start damaging your skin so it doesn't
Speaker 1: heal properly. Your hair will fall out, scars develop under
Speaker 1: your skin, swelling and forming keloids. Now, between three siverts
Speaker 1: and ten siverts gives you a fifty chance of dying
Speaker 1: in thirty days, and an instant dose of ten severts
Speaker 1: that will be fatal even with medical care. The effects
Speaker 1: of radiation sickness include initial symptoms like nausea, diarrhea, headaches, fever,
Speaker 1: and a loss of consciousness. With high doses, you'll also
Speaker 1: see burns to the skin, and symptoms occur more quickly
Speaker 1: the higher the dose, but they fade over one to
Speaker 1: two days. The latent period is where there are no
Speaker 1: symptoms over several weeks, and after this period real damage
Speaker 1: is evident. Bone marrow is vulnerable and can't produce enough
Speaker 1: red or white blood cells, and this makes victims anemic
Speaker 1: and susceptible to infections. It also damages the digestive systems lining,
Speaker 1: and this allows bacteria to migrate from there into your blood,
Speaker 1: causing more infections. So you're probably wondering, well, what's the
Speaker 1: treatment available. Well, that begins with decontaminating the patient. If
Speaker 1: radioactive material is still present, washing and special drugs like
Speaker 1: Prussian blue dye can be used, and these drugs bind
Speaker 1: radioactive particles and flush them from your body. You'll also
Speaker 1: want to evaluate your exposure with symptom checks using blood
Speaker 1: tests or a Geiger counter. You'll want antibiotics for the infections,
Speaker 1: and blood transusions are used to compensate for damaged bone marrow.
Speaker 1: Actual marrow transplants are used in even more severe cases,
Speaker 1: and pills can reduce the symptoms of exposure. For instance,
Speaker 1: potassium iodide tablets prevent radioactive iodine from concentrating in your thyroid. However,
Speaker 1: it does not protect you from direct radiation exposure. To
Speaker 1: prevent that, well, you can start by avoiding radiation, but
Speaker 1: the CDC recommends that you stay inside your home because
Speaker 1: the walls can block some radiation and the safest room
Speaker 1: in your house is the one with the least windows.
Speaker 1: Once you're in a safe place, figure out if you've
Speaker 1: been contaminated. Ways to do this would be get out
Speaker 1: of the area, remove your outer clothes and put these
Speaker 1: clothes in a plastic bag away from all others. Wash
Speaker 1: all your exposed body parts, and any internal contamination may
Speaker 1: need medical attention. Now you know what to do if
Speaker 1: you've been exposed to enough radiation to cause serious sickness.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Ben Bullen and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots
Speaker 1: of other topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works
Speaker 1: dot com. Plus. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.