Dr. Tsubokura's Radiation Lecture Vol.7

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura

Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo

13. Cesium is the primary causes of radiation exposure in our daily life

There are various radioactive substances, such as cesium, potassium, strontium, and tritium.Although their name is different, they emit the same type of radiation rays, also known as alpha, beta, or gamma rays.

That is why we cannot tell the types of radioactive substances from radioactive rays which hit our bodies. As I have highlighted in the previous article, the amount of radioactive substance is the point of focus, when we think about their impact on our body.

Some of you might wonder whether we do not have to think about strontium and plutonium. If the levels of these radioactive substances are as high as that of cesium, we need to think about the health impact of such substances. However, in our living environment, cesium composes a predominant part of the radioactive substances among those disseminated following the 2011 nuclear power plant accident.