Question

26. Select any radionuclide of your choice that is known to cause adverse radiobiological effects and state what its source is, what the principal route of exposure to humans is, describe how it distributes within the human body and briefly describe the disease or condition that results from exposure to this radionuclide and what organs are typically affected.

Answer 1

Radionuclei has the excess nuclear energy and hence they are highly unstable. They undergo radioactive decay and cause adverse radiobiological effects. Gamma radionuclei cause stochastic health risk, leading to the cancer induction as well as drastic genetic damage resulting in the severe tissue damage in the body affecting the various organs of the body.

Gamma radiations are generated from nuclear explosions. The principle route of exposure of gamma radiations to human is internal and external exposure depending on the location of the source and exposure to the body. These are absorbed by the body and deposited in the soft tissues of the body affecting the whole body. Gamma rays exposure can cause cancers as well as aplastic anemia, and can cause redness of the skin and hair loss, and more profoundly the genetic damage.