13 Facts About Radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination, called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases, where their presence is unintended or undesirable .

Containment is the primary way of preventing Radioactive contamination from being released into the environment or coming into contact with or being ingested by humans.

Radiological protection instrumentation plays a key role in monitoring and detecting any potential Radioactive contamination spread, and combinations of hand held survey instruments and permanently installed area monitors such as Airborne particulate monitors and area gamma monitors are often installed.

Surface Radioactive contamination is usually expressed in units of radioactivity per unit of area for alpha or beta emitters.

Airborne Radioactive contamination is measured by specialist radiological instruments that continuously pump the sampled air through a filter.

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Radioactive contamination can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, absorption, or injection.

Hazards to people and the environment from radioactive contamination depend on the nature of the radioactive contaminant, the level of contamination, and the extent of the spread of contamination.

Low levels of radioactive contamination pose little risk, but can still be detected by radiation instrumentation.

People can be exposed to potentially lethal radiation levels, both externally and internally, from the spread of contamination following an accident involving large quantities of radioactive material.

The biological effects of external exposure to radioactive contamination are generally the same as those from an external radiation source not involving radioactive materials, such as x-ray machines, and are dependent on the absorbed dose.

When radioactive contamination is being measured or mapped in situ, any location that appears to be a point source of radiation is likely to be heavily contaminated.

Radioactive contamination can be ingested into the human body if it is airborne or is taken in as contamination of food or drink, and will irradiate the body internally.

Radioactive contamination iodine-131 is a common fission product; it was a major component of the radioactivity released from the Chernobyl disaster, leading to nine fatal cases of pediatric thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism.