Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences

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TABLE A-2 Average Annual Dose Equivalents from Sources of Radiation Exposure in the United States

		Dose Equivalent^a (mSv)	Effective Dose Equivalent
Source		Dose Equivalent^a (mSv)	mrem	mSv	%
Natural	Radon^b	24	2,400	2.0	55>
	Cosmic	0.27	27	0.27	8
	Terrestrial	0.28	28	0.28	8
	Internal to human body	0.39	39	0.39	11
	Total natural	—	—	3.0	82
Artificial	Medical
	X-ray diagnosis	0.39	39	0.39	11
	Nuclear medicine	0.14	14	0.14	4
	Consumer products	0.10	10	0.10	3
Other	Occupational	0.009	0.9	<0.01	<0.3
	Nuclear fuel cycle	<0.01	<1.0	<0.01	<0.03
	Fallout	<0.01	<1.0	<0.01	<0.03
	Miscellaneous^c	<0.01	<1.0	<0.01	<0.03
	Total artificial	—	—	0.63	18
Total natural and artificial		—	—	3.6	100
^a To soft tissues. ^b Dose equivalent to bronchi from radon daughter products. The assumed weighting factor for the effective dose equivalent relative to whole-body exposure is 0.08. ^c U.S. Department of Energy facilities, smelters, transportation, etc. SOURCE: National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (1987).

Free Resources

Related Titles

Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences (1995)
Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Free Resources

Related Titles

Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences (1995) Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Isotopes for Medicine and the Life Sciences (1995)
Institute of Medicine (IOM)