- Industry: Government
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United States Department of Health and Human Services, Radiation Emergency Medical Management
A naturally occurring radioactive metal. Radium is a radionuclide formed by the decay of uranium (u) and thorium (th) in the environment. It occurs at low levels in virtually all rock, soil, water, plants, and animals. Radon (rn) is a decay product of radium.
Industry:Medical devices
A naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soil, rock, and water throughout the united states. Radon causes lung cancer and is a threat to health because it tends to collect in homes, sometimes to very high concentrations. As a result, radon is the largest source of exposure to people from naturally occurring radiation.
Industry:Medical devices
The ratio between the risk for disease in an irradiated population to the risk in an unexposed population. A relative risk of 1.1 indicates a 10% increase in cancer from radiation, compared with the "normal" incidence. See also risk, absolute risk.
Industry:Medical devices
A unit of equivalent dose. Not all radiation has the same biological effect, even for the same amount of absorbed dose. Rem relates the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation. It is determined by multiplying the number of rads by the quality factor, a number reflecting the potential damage caused by the particular type of radiation. The rem is the traditional unit of equivalent dose, but it is being replaced by the sievert (sv), which is equal to 100 rem. For more information, see “primer on radiation measurement” from cdc.
Industry:Medical devices
The probability of injury, disease, or death under specific circumstances and time periods. Risk can be expressed as a value that ranges from 0% (no injury or harm will occur) to 100% (harm or injury will definitely occur). Risk can be influenced by several factors: personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure to other material, or an inborn or inherited characteristic known from scientific evidence to be associated with a health effect. Because many risk factors are not exactly measurable, risk estimates are uncertain. See also absolute risk, relative risk.
Industry:Medical devices
A unit of exposure to x-rays or gamma rays. One roentgen is the amount of gamma or x-rays needed to produce ions carrying 1 electrostatic unit of electrical charge in 1 cubic centimeter of dry air under standard conditions.
Industry:Medical devices
Ability of an analytical method to detect small concentrations of radioactive material.
Industry:Medical devices
A unit used to derive a quantity called dose equivalent. This relates the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation. Not all radiation has the same biological effect, even for the same amount of absorbed dose. Dose equivalent is often expressed as millionths of a sievert, or micro-sieverts (µsv). One sievert is equivalent to 100 rem. For more information, see “primer on radiation measurement” from cdc.
Industry:Medical devices
Effects of radiation that are limited to the exposed person, as distinguished from genetic effects, which may also affect subsequent generations. See also teratogenic effects.
Industry:Medical devices
