Artlover said:
Sorry to sound like a jerk here, but ignorant fear mongering by people who don't know diddly squat about what they are talking about does not help anyone or add anything constructive or usefull to the conversation.
Word of advice, don't ever buy yourself a geiger counter. You really don't want to know just how much radioactive material can be found in every day things that surround you. Like your water, food, medical supplies, air, soil, etc.. This nutty guy is the absolute LAST thing on the planet you or anyone else needs to worry about.
Between naturally occuring radation, which can reach fatal levels (like radon gas that leeches from the ground into people's homes), to radioactive treatment of products for saftey and sterilization, to the world wide contamination of every square inch of land and water on the planet with Cesium (amung others) thanks to the previous decades of above ground nuclear weapons testing.....simply existing as a living being on this planet exposes you to more radioactivity at any given time than this guy possessed.
Thank you!
It seems every thread about science is immediately populated by folks whose science is learned from Saturday Morning Cartoons. That's not only disappointing, but it prevents any actual discussion from taking place.
I don't believe injecting sense into a conversation makes you a jerk.
However, as a final note, let's distinguish between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and from a short term source to a decaying substance. The irradiation of beef with UV light is designed to kill enterobacteria of various sorts that could harm consumers. It's the same mechanism as a sunburn; the light causes minor DNA damage which most cells can repair. Since the bacteria in question live in the guts of animals, they don't really have the ability to resist ultraviolet light. They have no need of it when in our colons! However, this exposure to radiation ends as soon as you turn off the UV light. It's like a tanning bed; the damage is done while under the bed, not hours later. (The cells may die hours later if they can't repair themselves, but this isn't the time or place for a pathology discussion.)
Radioactive substances linger, can infiltrate tissues, and can continue to do damage for much longer. Additionally, shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation can penetrate tissues (unlike UV light, which cannot) and cause much more grave DNA damage. (UV: T-T dimers, not as bad as full double-strand breaks.)
Sorry folks, simply saying "radiation" doesn't mean squat. Be clear about what and how much you're talking about. I think I'm going to soak up some radiation while reading a book now.
