Säteilyriskin

Säteilyriskin refers to the potential harm or adverse health effects that can arise from exposure to ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation possesses enough energy to remove electrons from atoms and molecules, which can damage biological tissues and DNA. The level of risk is dependent on several factors, including the type of radiation, the dose received, the duration of exposure, and the part of the body exposed.

Sources of ionizing radiation include both natural and artificial ones. Natural sources include cosmic rays from space and radioactive elements present in the Earth's crust and in the human body. Artificial sources encompass medical procedures like X-rays and CT scans, nuclear power plants, and industrial applications.

Health effects from radiation exposure can be categorized as deterministic or stochastic. Deterministic effects, such as skin burns or hair loss, occur when a threshold dose is exceeded and are generally predictable. Stochastic effects, like cancer or genetic mutations, have a probability of occurring that increases with dose, but the severity does not depend on the dose. There is no known safe threshold dose below which stochastic effects are guaranteed not to occur, though the probability is very low at low doses.

Radiation protection principles aim to minimize exposure and its associated risks. These principles include justification (ensuring the benefit of an exposure outweighs the risk), optimization (keeping doses as low as reasonably achievable), and dose limitation (setting maximum permissible doses for individuals).