The different types of injury from external sources of ionizing radiation are briefly described and the manifestations of radiation injury in the fetus, the infant and the child are reviewed.
If radiation therapy for malignant disease is excluded from consideration, it is found that x-ray damage to skin, other tissue destruction, and growth impairment are relatively minor radiation hazards compared to the dangers of leukemia and other malignancy and of radiation-induced genetic damage.
Consideration is given to somatic radiation injury as largely an individual problem and genetic injury as a population problem. This point of view is reflected in the differing recommendations concerning "permissible doses" for individuals and for populations.
Medical radiation represents a major and presumably growing source of exposure to individuals and to the population in the United States. Various ways are shown in which excessive diagnostic exposure to x-rays, especially in children, can be reduced without interference with requirements of diagnosis.
Control of avoidable radiation can be accomplished by combined attack from different fronts. The more important approaches to radiation safety are discussed. They include attention to technical detail, personnel monitoring, maintenance of radiation records, radiation safety through legislative control and public education.
The responsibility of the physician in promoting public understanding of radiation hazards is emphasized.
Radiation hazards and transfer factors of radionuclides from soil to plant at Al-Tuwaitha City-Iraq
