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6 Health Effects of Radiological Weapons
in the air, although it will last only as long as the radioactivity remains suspended;
as it settles out the radioactivity will collect on the ground where it can continue
to emit radiation until it is remediated or decays to stability. In addition, very high
levels of ground contamination can become resuspended by the wind or the passage
of vehicles, becoming an inhalation hazard.
Over a longer period of time, internal radioactivity can become incorporated
into the body, some of which might remain for the rest of a person’s life. Radium,
plutonium, and americium (for example) will become incorporated into the bone
where they will remain for decades, leaching out slowly over the years. Iodine and
cesium, by comparison, leave the body fairly quickly and expose the body to lower
levels of radiation since the exposure ends more quickly than with more persistent
radionuclides. This chronic radiation exposure will increase the person’s risk of
developing cancer during the remainder of their life, although the risk might be low.
6.2 Exposed Populations
Emergency responders are likely to receive acute exposure from their activities near
high-activity sources and/or working in highly contaminated areas. In addition, any
radioactivity that is inhaled or ingested during the course of their activities will
continue to expose them to radiation for as long as the radioactivity remains in their
bodies—in the case of bone-seeking elements with long half-lives (e.g. plutonium,
radium, strontium) this chronic exposure will continue for the rest of the responder’s
life. Thus, responders who receive a high radiation exposure in a short period of
time might suffer from acute radiation sickness, skin burns, and other acute effects
of radiation exposure in the weeks and months following a radiological attack, with
a continuing elevated risk of developing cancer in subsequent decades.
Members of the general public are also likely to receive acute exposure in the same
manner as are emergency responders, although their radiation dose might well be
lower if they are distant from the source(s), or if they are quickly evacuated through
the areas with the highest radiation levels. However, members of the public who are in
the immediate vicinity of a release of radioactive materials might well be more likely
to experience an intake of radioactivity due to their lack of protective equipment—
unlike emergency responders most members of the public are likely to lack respiratory protection, anti-contamination clothing, to undergo proper decontamination
(including monitoring themselves to evaluate the success of their decontamination
efforts), and those in the immediate vicinity of an explosive release of radioactivity
might also suffer embedded radioactive fragments or contamination entering their
bodies through open wounds. Thus, members of the public might also be expected
to evidence both acute and chronic health effects from their exposure.
6 Health Effects of Radiological Weapons
in the air, although it will last only as long as the radioactivity remains suspended;
as it settles out the radioactivity will collect on the ground where it can continue
to emit radiation until it is remediated or decays to stability. In addition, very high
levels of ground contamination can become resuspended by the wind or the passage
of vehicles, becoming an inhalation hazard.
Over a longer period of time, internal radioactivity can become incorporated
into the body, some of which might remain for the rest of a person’s life. Radium,
plutonium, and americium (for example) will become incorporated into the bone
where they will remain for decades, leaching out slowly over the years. Iodine and
cesium, by comparison, leave the body fairly quickly and expose the body to lower
levels of radiation since the exposure ends more quickly than with more persistent
radionuclides. This chronic radiation exposure will increase the person’s risk of
developing cancer during the remainder of their life, although the risk might be low.
6.2 Exposed Populations
Emergency responders are likely to receive acute exposure from their activities near
high-activity sources and/or working in highly contaminated areas. In addition, any
radioactivity that is inhaled or ingested during the course of their activities will
continue to expose them to radiation for as long as the radioactivity remains in their
bodies—in the case of bone-seeking elements with long half-lives (e.g. plutonium,
radium, strontium) this chronic exposure will continue for the rest of the responder’s
life. Thus, responders who receive a high radiation exposure in a short period of
time might suffer from acute radiation sickness, skin burns, and other acute effects
of radiation exposure in the weeks and months following a radiological attack, with
a continuing elevated risk of developing cancer in subsequent decades.
Members of the general public are also likely to receive acute exposure in the same
manner as are emergency responders, although their radiation dose might well be
lower if they are distant from the source(s), or if they are quickly evacuated through
the areas with the highest radiation levels. However, members of the public who are in
the immediate vicinity of a release of radioactive materials might well be more likely
to experience an intake of radioactivity due to their lack of protective equipment—
unlike emergency responders most members of the public are likely to lack respiratory protection, anti-contamination clothing, to undergo proper decontamination
(including monitoring themselves to evaluate the success of their decontamination
efforts), and those in the immediate vicinity of an explosive release of radioactivity
might also suffer embedded radioactive fragments or contamination entering their
bodies through open wounds. Thus, members of the public might also be expected
to evidence both acute and chronic health effects from their exposure.