Submitted by-Priyanka

jaswal

Registration number-
11001685

Roll number-24
Section-A6003
Submitted to-Ms. Mridu
Sharma

PHY-152
Term
paper
 Biological
Effects of
Radiation
s

Contents:
1) Acknowledgement
2) Introduction
3) Cellular damage
4) Natural background radiation
5) Man made radiation
6) Somatic and hereditary effects
7) Long term somatic effects
8) Short term somatic effects
9) Treatment of radiation injury
10) Beta irradiation of skin
11) Radiation effects during
pregnancy
12) References
 Acknowledgem
ent
For the completion of this
term paper, I would like
to acknowledge my
respected teacher Ms.
Mridu Sharma who was
always very helpful to
help me in my queries in
different aspects.
Pri
yanka Jaswal
Biological
effects of
Radiations

Introductio
n

Whether the source of radiation is natural

or manmade, whether it is a small dose of
radiation or a large dose, there will be
some biological effects. This term paper
summarizes the short and long term
consequences which may result from
exposure to radiation. Radiation causes
ionization of atoms, which may affect
molecules, which may affect cells, which
may affect tissues, which may affect
organs, which may affect the whole body.
Although we tend to think about
biological effects in terms of effect of
radiation on living cells, in actuality,
ionizing radiation, by definition, interacts
only with atoms by a process called
ionization. As a result, radiations effects
on humans proceed from the lowest level
to the highest levels.

Cellular
damage
Even though all subsequent biological
effects can be traced back to interaction
with atoms, there are two mechanisms by
which radiation ultimately affects cells.
These two mechanisms are commonly
called direct and indirect effects.
 Direct effect

If radiation interacts with atoms of DNA

molecule, or some other cellular
component critical to the survival of the
cell, it is referred to as direct effect. Such
an interaction may affect the ability of the
cell to reproduce and thus, survive. If
enough atoms are affected such that the
chromosomes do not replicate properly,
or if there is significant alteration in the
information carried by DNA molecule,
then the cell may be destroyed by
“direct” interference with its life
sustaining system.
Radiolytic decomposition of
water in a cell:
If a cell exposed to radiation, the
probability of radiation interacting with
DNA molecule is very small since these
critical components make up such a small
part of a cell. However each cell is just as
is the case of the human body, is mostly
water. Therefore, there is a much higher
probability of radiations interacting with
the water that makes up most of cell’s
volume.
When radiation interacts with water, it
may break the bonds that hold water
molecules together, producing fragments
such as hydrogen and hydroxyls. These
fragments may recombine or may
interact with other fragments or ions to
form compounds such as water, which
would not harm the cell. However they
could combine to form toxic substances
such as hydrogen peroxide, which can
contribute to the destruction of cell.
Cells like, human body, have a
tremendous ability to repair damage. As a
result, not all radiation effects are
irreversible. If damage is severe enough,
the affected cell dies. In some instances,
affected cell is able to reproduce. The
daughter cells, however, may be lacking
in some critical life sustaining component
and they die. Due to exposure, the cell
may be affected in such a way that it
does not die but is simply mutated. The
mutated cell reproduces and thus
perpetuates the mutation. This could be
the beginning of the malignant tumor.
 oNatural background
radiation :
We are all exposed to natural radiations
all times. This radiation is called natural
background radiation, and its main
sources are following:
• Radioactive substances in earth’s
crust.
• Emanation of radioactive gas from
earth.
• Trace amount of radioactivity in the
body.
• Cosmic rays from outer space which
bombard the earth.
 Cosmic Rays: These are
extremely energetic particles,
primarily protons, which originate
in sun, other stars. These interact
with upper atmosphere of earth
 and produce showers of low energy
particles.
 Radioactivity in the earth: When
the earth was formed over four
billion years ago, the material of
which was made contained many
isotopes which were radioactive.
 Natural Radioactivity in the
body: Some traces of many
radioactive materials are present in
human body. These come mainly
from radioactivity present in
minute quantities in the food we
eat. A person weighing 70kg
contains 140 g of potassium, most
of which is located in the muscle.

o Man made radiation :

 Medical exposure: For many
years, population of developed
countries has been exposed to
 substantial doses of radiation as a
result of medical practice. Most of
this is from diagnostic X-rays. A
smaller part of medical radiation
comes from use of radiation to
treat cancer and other diseases.
 Miscellaneous sources: Fallout
from atmospheric nuclear weapon
tests contribute a little annually at
present. Color TV’s, ceramics,
smoke detectors and numerous
other small sources add a little.

o Somatic and hereditary

effects :
 Some cellular biology: in
adults, chromosomes contain all
information required to create
another individual organism
identical to the owner of the cell.
The genetic blueprint contained
 in chromosomes includes the
instruction from making new
germ cells, thus characteristics of
one individual can be passed on
for many generations.
 Natural mutation: There are
effective cell repair mechanisms,
but it is possible to damage the
genetic code permanently by
means of external influences.
When this is done, distorted
genetic information will be
produced. When this kind of
alteration occurs in germ cells, it
is referred to as hereditary
mutation. Natural background
radiation is believed to cause a
very small percentage of human
mutations. The largest group of
irradiated humans is descendants
of those Japanese, who were
 exposed to radiations during
Second World War. Until now,
hereditary effects like mental
retardation have only been seen
in those children who were
heavily irradiated while still in
their mother’s womb.

The above picture shows a boy who was affected

by radiations which were emitted during explosions
in Second World War in Japan.
o Long term Somatic
effects :
Somatic cells are those cells in
your body other than reproductive
cells.
 Somatic cell mutations and
cancer: A long term somatic
mutation is damage to cells that
are continually reproducing.
These are most sensitive to
radiations because any changes
made in parent cell’s
chromosome structure will be
transmitted to its daughters.
Radiation can affect delicate
chemistry of the cells, which can
even destruct the cell. If mutation
increases, rate of reproduction of
cell increases in an uncontrolled
manner and cells divide before
 reaching to the mature state. This
results in increasing number of
cells that have no function in the
body but they are absorbing body
nutrition at an increasing rate.
This tissue can now be called a
tumor. If tumor invades
neighboring tissues, it is called
malignant and a malignant tumor
is what we call cancer.
 Radiation induced cancer in
humans: there are many well
documented cases of radiation
induced cancer in humans. The
early scientists who worked with
X-rays and radioactive materials
didn’t realize the risk. Many died
from skin and bone cancer and
leukemia. Marie Curie died of
leukemia who invented radium.
The study of the survivors of
 Hiroshima and Nagasaki indicated
an increase in frequency of
stomach, lung and breast
cancers. These have taken much
longer to develop and some are
still appearing now.

o Short term somatic

effects :
Short term somatic effects are those
that we would expect to see within a
short time after an acute exposure.
 Function of self-renewal
tissues: The most important
tissues for survival are seen to be
blood forming tissues. However for
exposure to extremely high acute
radiation doses, the damage to
cells of the brain and spinal cord
may cause death to individual
before the damage to self renewal
tissues become evident.
 Effects of high whole body
doses: A higher dose may result in
failure of ability to digest food and
contain bacteria. Death is certain.
The effect of damage to brain and
nervous system has the most
immediate consequences and
death of individual occurs in a
matter of hours.
 Superior Dose Localization

Heavy ion therapy severely damages

the tumor while minimizing damage to
surrounding tissues.
The above diagram shows the main
environmental pathways of human
radiation exposure.
 Above table shows the consequences of the exposure
to radiations.

o Treatment of radiation
injury : The methods used for the
treatment of people who have
received an acute whole body
exposure are listed below in the table :

Following extremely high exposures,

bone marrow transplants have been
made with some success, although
death is probable following whole body
exposures. Radiation exposure that is
confined only to one area causes
much less injury and risk than whole
 body exposures. Although there may
be severe damage in the irradiated
area, the high proportion of unaffected
tissues will compensate for the loss of
any of the blood forming cells.

o Beta irradiation of the

skin: When considering a high
radiation dose to whole body, skin
damage is irrelevant. A whole body
dose sufficient to kill a person may
only redden their skin and cause loss
of hair. Following acute exposure to
beta radiation, only skin is affected
because vast majority of beta particles
do not have enough energy to
penetrate any deeper. Treatment
required for high doses is similar to
the treatment given for thermal burns.
o Radiation effects during
pregnancy: the rapidly dividing
cells are most sensitive to radiation. In
case of a developing fetus, all cells are
dividing very rapidly and are therefore
at maximum risk. There will be no
other time in life of an individual when
radiation dose received will have a
more damaging effect. After about
nine days, the embryo is firmly
attached to wall. During this period
when organs and limbs are formed,
the embryo is most vulnerable to
drugs, diseases and radiation. So, the
X-rays are no longer used for
pregnancy tests now a days but
ultrasound is used as it has no adverse
effects.
 Thus, we notice that everything has
two aspects-positive and negative.
The biological effects of radiations also
have both. Good and bad effects on
our body. In some cases, radiations
are used for treatment like infrared
radiations are used to cure joint pain.
While in many other cases, treatment
is required when the body is exposed
to radiation.

o References:
1) www.nrc.gov
2) www.triumf.ca
3) www.google.co.in/images