Maureen Denard
Radiation. The word alone scares us, but we’re exposed to it on a daily basis in some unlikely places. While there’s no reason to dictate where you go based on radiation, know that extreme exposure to certain types of radiation can be hazardous to your health. Illnesses include vomiting, nausea and in some cases, a loss of white blood cells (the good cells that fight bad germs in our system). Read on for a look at surprising places you may be overexposed to radiation.
1. Airplanes. You may getting to your destination more quickly, but flying from one coast to the other on a commercial flight exposes us to about .03 mSv (one of the many scales for measuring radiation). While this may not seem like much, if you’re flying from coast to coast often or taking numerous flights that put you on a plane for a long duration of time, you’re exposing yourself to major radiation over the course of years
2. Living in the plateaus of New Mexico or Colorado. The view may be majestic, but living in the plateau region of New Mexico or Colorado are exposed to about 1.5 more mSv than those who live at sea level. This means living in these areas for years will eventually add up and can pose a health hazard.
3. Color TVs. This is all TVs, since a black and white television set is hard to come by in this day and age. Watching a color television set exposes us to small amounts of ionizing radiation. In large amounts or with constant exposure ionizing radiation is known to harm humans. The average American watches 28 hours of TV per week, so that’s considerable exposure. Heed your mother’s warning of not sitting too close to your TV the next time you take in the tube.
Read it all here.
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