A new study done by Maria Grazia Andreassi of the CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa, Italy, shows that healthcare workers in cardiology may be harmed by radiation at work. Hospital staff who work in so-called “cath labs”, where procedures for many heart conditions including heart arrhythmias and heart defects are conducted, are exposed to high doses of X-ray radiation from some of the imaging machines used in surgery. Data from 466 exposed cardiologists, nurses, and technicians over 10 years has pointed to a 2.5% increase in the risk of cancer, 8% increase in skin legions, and 30% increase
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Scientists are grappling with this critical risk to a human mission to Mars
With movies like The Martian gaining in popularity recently, scientists still have a few problems to tackle before a manned mission to Mars is possible. One of these problems is the huge amounts of radiation that astronauts would be exposed to on the surface of Mars. Since Mars lacks a strong atmosphere or magnetic field, its surface isn’t protected from harmful radiation like Earth’s is. The Curiosity rover is currently measuring radiation levels using a toaster-sized monitor on board. NASA has set a limit of no more than 3% chance of dying from radiation-induced cancer at a 95% confidence level
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VA proposal puts veterans at risk for medical radiation errors
As part of a new proposal presented in the US Office of Veteran’s Affairs, nurses without adequate training on radiation imaging machines (such as PET scans) would still be allowed to perform these procedures. Before, nurses had to go through hours of training to become registered radiological technologists to get the proper certification in order to operate these machines since they risked exposing patients to high doses of radiation. Even though this idea was proposed to speed up waiting times for veterans, many are saying that this VA proposal is putting veterans at risk of dangerous radiation because these nurses
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Radiation and Reason
Professor Wade Allison, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford where he has researched and taught for 40 years, has recently released a new publicly accessible book entitled “Nuclear is Life: A Cultural Revolution”. In his book, he urges governments to change their stances on radiation safety and illustrates how public opinions has created radiation safety policies that are overregulating the industry. Ever since the Cold War, the public has been terrified of radiation threats, and government legislation has responded to this by adopting an extremely precautious safety policy. Allison, however, shows that data collected from radiation leaks
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