Why can radioactive fallout on a person's skin be harmful to people, but the radiation inside a person is safe

Question

For example, if a survivor of a nuclear bombing came to your fallout shelter or basement with radioactive fallout all over him or her, and you thoroughly washed all of the dust off of him or her, won't his or her own exposure to the fallout have particles radiating out of his body?

If not, then what exactly is radiation sickness -- is it the inhaling or injesting of the dust?

I just don't see how the dust can radiate into our bodies, but human bodies cannot -- is it not the chemical reactions of raioactive material in contact with non-radioactive material that causes radiation?

And even if you kept your distance from him or her, wouldn't the radiation radiate from him, through the air, to you and everywhere else like a chain reaction?

Answer 1

Keep in mind, I'm not a nuclear Engineer or a nuclear specialist. I haven't studied nuclear physics since college 10 years ago.

Radiation in any form is dangerous. It is just whether the benfits outweigh the potential ill side effects.

Radiation is actually caused by the decay of a radiactive subtance. Radiation takes three forms, alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.

Alpha radiation consists of 2 protons and 2 neutrons. Alpha particles are slow and can not penetrate much. This type of radiation can be stopped by something as thin as a sheet of paper or clothing.

Beta radiation is actually an electron. While beta radiation penetrates more than alpha radiation, it is still weak. It can be stopped by thin metals, such as a sheet of foil.
Gamma radiation is the radiation that is very deadly. Gamma radiation is actually a wave and not a particle. It can only be stopped by thick layers of dirt, concrete, or lead.

During nuclear fallout, a person doesn’t become radioactive per se. What happens is the dust and particles collected on their clothing emits radiation. You may have heard of radiation suits. Radiation suits do not stop radiation, rather their purpose is to prevent radioactive particles from becoming embedded in hair, skin, or clothing. Once the person gets away from the contaminated area, they wash the suit, disrobe, and (my guess) run like hell.

Radiation sickness is caused by an overdose of radiation. The danger of radiation is that it kills the cells of any living thing that it strikes. This can be beneficial in a medical setting like when a radiation beam is used to kill cancer cells in a patient. However, when a person is exposed to uncontrolled radiation over a prolonged period of time, many of the cells in their body are killed. Just like anything else, dead things begin to decay and rot. Radiation sickness is essentially the body becoming poisoned and weak from the loss of cells and decaying cells in their body.

Without adequate protection during radiation fallout, radioactive particles become ingested, inhaled, and embedded on the skin.

I hope this helps a little

Answer 2

Whoa...who said radiation inside the body is safe?

In fact, one small microscopic sized speck of enriched plutonium (Pu) in soft tissue, like the lungs, will kill anyone within days. This is exactly why the so-called dirty bomb is so dangerous in the hands of terrorists. A lot of people can be killed by the Pu spread as dust particles by an ordinary chemical explosion. An atomic based explosion is not necessary for a dirty bomb to work.

The beta radiation, which is what kills, is fortunately a short ranged radiation; so it is unlikely to reach outside the body it is in. So the ingested Pu will kill only the body it is in...but kill it, it will. There is no treatment to prevent death.

Radiation from atomic particles does not cause the human body to radiate. So washing off the external radioactive substances will in fact get rid of the radiation. Unfortunately, while that stuff is on the skin, it will be damaging the organs of that irradiated body. This is why washing as quickly as possible to minimize biological damage is the best response to being exposed.

Answer 3

Even though God made he Sun which gives us life, that doesn't mean that I want to go live on the Sun. "Radioactive Radiation" is what keeps the center of our Earth molten. This radioactivity creates an electric current beneath the Earth's surface that creates a magnetic field which protects us from much of the Sun's cosmic radiation. This same principle is what creates the Magnetic North Pole. When used properly, everything in nature seems to balance each other. I find it intriguing that if you could harness all of the energy from a single ball point pen, you would have enough energy to create about 16 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. I think that God created radioactivity, as well as the great quantity of energy required to make matter, so that we would respect His power. I believe though that some things are better appreciated from a distance.

Answer 4

Radiation has absolutely nothing to do with “chemical reactions of radioactive material in contact with non-radioactive material.” Such chemical reactions may or may not occur, but they do not affect the production of radiation and do not influence whether a person succumbs to “radiation sickness.”

Radiation sickness occurs when an organism absorbs a critical level of ionizing radiation, that is, radiation whose photon energy is sufficient to ionize atoms. X-rays and gamma rays are ionizing radiation. Exposure to sources of ionizing of radiation is strictly controlled by law, except in the case of nuclear war.

The effect of ionizing radiation exposure is to disrupt the normal chemical metabolism of cells by the creation of ions. If enough ions are created the organism dies.

Some radioactive isotopes emit ionizing radiation in the form of high-energy gamma rays. For example cesium-137 is a strong gamma ray emitter with a half-life of about thirty years. It is produced in copious quantities as a result of nuclear fission of U-235, either in nuclear power reactors or as the fall-out by-product of a nuclear weapon explosion.

You do not need to ingest a radioactive substance to get radiation poisoning, but any radioactive substance inhaled or ingested in sufficient quantity will definitely cause radiation poisoning. If a person is properly de-contaminated, it may be safe to be around them, provided they have not ingested or breathed in too large a quantity of radioactive material, because their body will absorb most of the radiation generated internally. However, only a radiation survey meter will tell you whether or not a person is safe to be around.

Radiation intensity diminishes approximately inversely as the square of the distance between source and receiver. Each doubling of distance cuts the exposure in half. Again, only a radiation survey meter will tell you what is or is not a safe distance from a source of radiation. There is no chain-reaction involved.

It is suggested that you stop watching the television drama series, “Jericho.”

Answer 5

radioactive particulates are readily passed into mucuso.. Particulate residue from fallout contains isotopes that attach to mucus membranes readily. radiant energy is different This radioactive isotopes in fallout through off Gamma, beta and alpha particles through unstable decay. These particles attack white cells in the blood stream and destroy the bodies ability to ward off infections.

Particulate transfer can be mitigated through showering the contaminated individual OR through the use of a prophylatic suit to protect aid givers.

Answer 6

Actually, everyone and everything is radioactive to some extent.