Radiation Measurements

After watching the videos shared and reading the information provided about radiation measurements used (links provided at end), it would be understandable if people would get confused as to exactly how much radiation they may have or may be exposed to. There seems to be plenty of different measurements due to different amounts, due to different types of radiation or exposures and also different amounts based as to what someone would be exposed to compared to what is actually absorbed through the skin during an exposure.

As the website for the CDC shows, there are different units of measurement for radiation as to what is being emitted and what the actual exposure to a person is. The conventional unit for radiation being emitted is the curie or "Ci" which was named after Marie Curie (for her discoveries throughout the late 1800's, for which she won a Nobel prize in 1911. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html), but it also states that there is an SI unit which is the becquerel or "Bq" (Named after Henri Becquerel for his discovery of radiation in the late 1800's http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/becquerel-facts.html). This alone would be confusing to the general public if reported by the media. Most people don't understand the units of measurement when dealing with radiation, yet alone lethal amounts. If the media were to report units such as these, it may come off more severe than intended because of lack of information provided as to what would be harmful, but it could also be less severe because the units might be small in comparison to other known units of measurement. If the units seem smaller the people may not see these exposures as a real threat and take them carelessly and listen to potential hazards.

The article from the CDC then goes on to explain the comparisons between the two units mentioned above and shows that one curie or "Ci" is the equivalent of 37 billion becquerel "Bq". Therefore if the media were to use the curie measurement, it may seem like a much smaller number (37 billion times smaller) and the general public may not see it as much of a threat, but if they were to use the Becquerel unit, it would be a much larger number and may raise some alarms.

As stated earlier, there are also different measurements for the actual exposure one may face from radiation and these are radiation absorbed dose or "rad" and the SI unit of gray or "Gy". These levels are also very different, similarly to the Ci and Bq mentioned before, granted the difference isn't quite as drastic, but it is still enough that it may add confusion to what the media is reporting and what is threatening. One Gy unit is the equivalent of 100 rad units, therefore if the media reported levels in Gy units, the number would be smaller and make the situation less severe, while if they used the rad units, the number would be larger which would draw some attention to what was really happening.

Given all of the units of measurement for radiation levels being emitted/potential exposures and also for the actual absorption through the human skin, the media needs to be careful how they present the information and provide more insight to the people so that they can understand what is really happening and the potential hazards to their full extent.

http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/measurement.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-BXmlYouWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB-K78L8oNI