How Much Radiation Can the Human Body Take? And Are Dental X-Rays Actually Safe?

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Sources:
Little, John, Principal Cellular and Tissue Effects of Radiation, Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine, 6th Edition, www.ncbi.nlm.n...
Murphy, Andrew, Sievert (SI Unit), Radiopaedia, March 29, 2020, radiopaedia.or...
Radiation: Risks and Realities, United States Environmental Protection Agency, August 1993, nepis.epa.gov/...
Anderson, Elda, Units of Radiation and Radioactivity, www.ncbi.nlm.n...
Moss, William & Eckhardt, Roger, The Human Plutonium Injection Experiments, sgp.fas.org/ot...
Peck, Donald & Samei, Ehasam, How to Understand and Communicate Radiation Risk, Image Wisely, web.archive.or...
Ionizing Radiation Dose Ranges (Rem), US Department of Energy, www.nrc.gov/do...
LaMonte, Michael et al, History of Periodontitis Diagnosis and Edentulism as Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, and Mortality in Postmenopausal Women, Journal of the American Heart Association, March 29, 2017, www.ahajournal...

[@TodayIFoundOut]

If you'd like to join me and a community of 8 million learners and educators today, visit: brilliant.org/brainfood to get 20% off a year of Brilliant Premium!

[@jacobtaylor3712]

Watched business blaze for a week straight , now every other video you do throws me off. haha

[@anarchyantz1564]

Or be near a 5G tower, wake up sheeple! AMIRITE PETER!?!!!

[@VLorenzoStone]

Why didn't you explain curies?

[@aaronstanley6914]

a guy walked into a dental office and says hope you don't mind me wear this lead hat when getting x-rayed, "it's to help protect my PIECE of mind"

[@dildoshwagins2222]

Congratulations on keeping going for this long what will you do after KZbin? I only wonder because life isn’t long

[@usernameed]

Also another answer to the “why does the dentist retreat behind a thick wall?” is that you’re getting one dose of radiation. You are not the dentist’s only patient. The dentist retreats as to stop from being exposed over and over.

[@IQTech61]

This is very true. My dentist still insists on a radiation shield around a patients neck because the thyroid is a hugely important organ. He prefers to protect patients rather than take chances.

[@Kimipu]

This. A full series is 18 exposures , per patient, not including localized ones. We'd see 50+ pts/day (not all xrays though), so that's a LOT of unnecessary radiation to expose yourself to. As a pt, the risk of radiation is outweighed by the benefit of...finding out how deep a cavity is etc. That's why EVERYONE not the pt should gtfo during exposure. Though I definitely have worked with some assistants that dgaf, but I ain't about that life lol

[@jfbeam]

Also, it's not that thick of a wall. :-)

[@v3rlon]

Given the amount of discomfort (physical, mental, financial) inflicted by dentists, they are probably always looking to keep a wall between them and their patients.

[@LeahBouley]

I could imagine that was probably put into place ASAP when they realized how radiation and X-rays and such work with the human body lol. I used to always be scared oh how much radiation was being focusesed onto me when I had to get my lungs checked, I was applying for work at a hospital and I tested positive for Teburculosis even tho I’ve never had symptoms (possible exposure at birth, due to being born in a poor village in Russian Manchuria about 30 miles from Vladivostok) so I had to get many X-rays and other thing to check my lung as well as manditory treatment

[@joelb8653]

As a health physicist I am very impressed by how accurate and factual this is. I'm so used to oversimplification and/or sensationalism.

[@zaneyates5704]

That’s the Simon for ya. He’s awesome. He sensationalizes things only very rarely

[@buck45osu]

@@zaneyates5704 on this channel. Brain blaze.......

[@jamesoverholt878]

All I know is I keep eating these radioactive bananas and I still haven't transformed into Banana-Man. The struggle continues.

[@KeelyIleanBaker]

@@jamesoverholt878 my son too! We’re both massively disappointed!

[@zaneyates5704]

@@buck45osu he has so many channels I didn’t even know about that one

[@j0njn]

I once got the “retreating dentist/nurse” explained like this: go to a bar and have a drink, and you’ll be fine. If the bartender has one with you, they’ll be fine. But if they consume a drink for every drink they serve, they’ll be less than fine. This doesn’t explain the bit about affected areas of the body as was mentioned in the video, but I still find it a useful analogy.

[@jarnoldp]

I studied to become a licensed medical physicist, and I used to teach undergraduate medical physics for years. Good job. You did that completely correct and very succinctly. I might use the his in one of my classes next semester.

[@bobthompson4319]

Ever heard of Hisashi Ouchi?

[@bobthompson4319]

He got a 17,000 severt dose and was kept alive by doctors for 83 days until most of him became a liquid goo and all his membranes and blood vessels couldn't hold any liquid. They revived him to many times. It was most definitely the worst torture a person's ever been through.

[@robertperillo8738]

@@bobthompson4319 his last name was Ouchi…?

[@empressoftheknownuniverse]

@@robertperillo8738 I have to agree with your incredulity. Citation needed.

[@randomguy1371]

@@empressoftheknownuniverse Tokaimura nuclear accident - Ouchi suffered serious radiation burns to most of his body, experienced severe damage to his internal organs, and had a near-zero white blood cell count. In the process, doctors kept him alive by pumping a high amount of blood and fluids into him regularly. Copy pasta from google

[@caroljo420]

I was a registered dental assistant. The amount of radiation involved is small and for less than a second. The lead drape is to ensure that radiation only goes where it's supposed to. The reason we take the x-rays from behind a protective wall is because. We take them dozens of times a day, 5 days a week, for years. That's enough exposure to cause problems.

[@danielbrowniel]

Compared to general radiography the technique being blasted at those little wedges of film Is what I use on an Abdomen.(which is the second highest amount I would use on anypart of the body, pelvis requiring more KVPs and mAhs.) Panorex is much lower does. But it's necessary because teeth are more dense than bone. Panorex gets lower dose because the imaging receptor is not in your mouth and you can fit more sensitive equipment than film in an envelope in that housing that spins around your head. (which Simon never got to) And he showed a panorex while talking about not-a-panorex.. traditional dental xrays.

[@VladMcCain]

Also panos take a significant amount of time. Films or sensors take less than 0.2 second. While the Kv and mA suggested vary by state, provence, and country. They are relatively close. but the amount is considered "acceptable" for most teens to adults. Within a day. There are options for young children that use near infrared that's harmless to a human.

[@stanwolenski9541]

Had he said that in the beginning I could have used the 16 min 40 sec to take a nap.

[@pmgn8444]

I worked for almost 30 years at the US Dept of Energy's Hanford Site involved with nuclear waste cleanup. This is a very good video on radiation exposure. As others have said, it is accurate, factual, and does not sensationalize the subject. And the graphics appeared to be accurate, too!

[@balancebjj1087]

I gotta know.. what's the job like?? Movies make nuclear waste out to be like Batman villian toxic vats. At the same time, I'm sure it isn't entirely harmless (material depending obviously)

[@pmgn8444]

@@balancebjj1087 The following just scratches the surface. It doesn't cover every detail. Overall, it is very similar to other industrial/construction/demolition jobs. So they have all the same types of hazards. But with an additional layer of safety activities/bureaucracy. You are trained as a Radiation Worker Level 2. You always wear a dosimeter (about the size and weight of a few credit cards stacked to gather) so you know how much radiation you are exposed to. You ALWAYS obey the barriers - they can be just a yellow-and-magenta rope on stanchions around something or across a doorway. Never reach across. Never enter unless you know where you are going. This is part of the training. The Health Physics Technicians (HPTs) routinely survey areas to check for changes. They have maps so you know where the radiation hazards are. In low hazard areas, you may have to use a hand-and-foot counter to exit. In this case you may be in just street clothes. Step on the pad, put your hands in the slots. If it beeps 'OK' you leave. If not, call a HPTs to check you out. When the hazards increase, there is always a pre-job safety briefing covering all hazards, rad and non-rad. You review, read, and sign the Radiation Work Permit. Oh, no food, drink, or rest rooms in the radiation areas. In areas with radiation hazards, you put on protective clothing: coveralls, booties, hood. Often just cloth, some times tyvek. Masking tape is used to seal the joints, eg, tape the legs to the cloth booties. Rubber overshoes, and gloves taped to your sleeves. Then another set of gloves. Then go do work. When you leave, take them off in a specific order so you don't get contamination on you (or others). HPT surveys you for contamination and assists getting you out of the radiation zones. These extra dress-in/dress-out steps slows work down. Again, how to do this is part of the training. Higher risk areas, add a second set of clothing. Airborne radiation possible? Wear a respirator, or what might be called a gas mask. Areas with higher dose rate may require an additional dosimeter(s). The higher the risk, the more HPTs you have with you to monitor conditions. The more of this Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) you wear, the less efficient you are. So work takes longer. Add in hot weather, even less effective. Example: Was part of an engineering staff walkdown of a long shut-down reactor. Wearing one set of PPE due to radiation. For one room we wore respirators. But not for radiation. The pigeon poop was a foot thick in that one room. Sorry, no boiling vats of green-glowing goop. :)

[@tfrowlett8752]

Tom Scott recently did a video on radiation hormesis in Germany where they have underground rooms they can fill with radon gas at will to treat chronic pain. It’s a great video, and so is this one.

[@davidpena9698]

My dad got endocarditis and two strokes from having an untreated abscess in his tooth/gums, thankfully he has survived, but it was very traumatic experience for my entire family. My dad is no longer the same person he once was as he needs to be looked after. Please take care of your gums and teeth.

[@Chemtech2010]

There is also the ALARA principle when dealing with medical radiation exposures. It stands for As Low As Reasonably Achievable, meaning you strive to only expose the part you want to expose and with an as low as possible dose to do it. So when you only need the dental X-ray it's good practice to shield all the other areas as much as possible (due to x-ray scattering) and remove yourself and personal as much as possible to prevent getting an unneeded dose yourself

[@aceundead4750]

If you only capitalize the first A making it Alara it's a plane from the MTG TCG

[@csdn4483]

ALARA is more than just the medical industry, it's all industries involving radiological exposures. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has a given allotted amount of radiation dose someone can receive over the course of a year. When I checked last, which was a decade and a half ago, it was the following (this may have changed since then): 50 REM to extremities (fingers, hands, toes, feet) 8 REM whole body 2 REM torso and head Typically, those working in a radiological exposure job will wear two dosimeters on their body, a ring dosimeter on the dominant hand (as it is most likely to receive the highest dose) and a badge dosimeter worn on the chest. The health physicist will then look at the two dosimeters monthly at a minimum (sometimes more often) and keep track of the dose that the person gets over the year and then will report that information to NRC at the end of the year. Any one reaching those limits before the year is out is required to be removed from any further access to radiological sources for the remainder of the year (outside of receiving background dose rates).

[@mikehunt6107]

They must think I am not long for this world then.

[@mikehunt6107]

@@csdn4483 I wonder how many times a year should I be getting "contrast" injected? I was told I have to have good kidney function and have at least 3 months in between.

[@shorey66]

Or ALARP in the UK. We change achievable for the word practicable. I've no idea why

[@seanb3516]

I was having a Hip CT Scan for Bone Density and decided to bring my Radex 1530 Geiger-Muller Detector to see what it measured. It was sitting on a counter where I could see it about 3 meters away. At one point the CT shifted position and the X-Ray Beam Path swept the detector. The detector went absolutely nuts. It was squealing and vibrating to the point it almost fell to the floor. It had pegged at the max of 10 uSv/hr. Very exciting and just a little difficult to ignore as the tech and I worked to complete the scan despite the alarming noise. Fun times!

[@nichmiller4251]

For a school project I got to interview one Maj. Puckett (a friend's step-grandfather, by chance). This old legend was a human test subject for the domestic atomic bomb tests. He remembered being selected to face the blast. The mens' direction was alternated along the line to decide this. He described the brightest light he could ever imagine and then absolute darkness as the dust hit, moments later, and he was knocked on his ass. Decades later, when I met him, his career as an EOD Officer had made him famous in their tight-knit professional world and he wore the scars of being literal cannon fodder proudly but in agony. Cancer had spread over a number of his organs (I can't remember which) and his body was tall and thin. Like he had never had any muscle before, the old warrior hardly looked like himself in the photos of his service days. But he was such a calm, straightforward, proud man who was happy to share his remarkable life's adventure to some dumbass mind-blown teenagers who just wanted to write a cool essay. He might be one of the literal closest people to the spark that changed warfare forever that I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

[@AngryChiropractor]

When I was a kid, my dad took me to an oldddd barber named Mr Napper. Mr Napper had been one of the soldiers that were used as human test dummies for the atomic bomb tests too. He died of cancer when I was a teen.

[@nichmiller4251]

@@AngryChiropractor That's awesome!!

[@EmilyJelassi]

I was with you up to the part when you went into maths.. very confusing, especially when you have a learning disability in maths. But everything else was easy to understand and fascinating. Thank you for making the majority of this video easy to understand! Love this channel 😊❤

[@killman369547]

I got dental X-rays done in may and i actually asked the technician as a joke "So how many rads did i get?" and she chuckled and said only a fraction of what older machines would've given me. Technology has come a long war even compared to 30 yrs ago. They don't need nearly as much radiation to do an X-ray today than in the 80's or 90's.

[@amojak]

in the old days it used to have to expose photographic paper, these days they use much faster films or sensitive electronic pick up devices so the xray gun needs to send far less energy.

[@24934637]

Apparently it's the same with radiotherapy too, the targeting is so much more accurate now, that a far smaller dose can be used and directed right at the cancer instead of the whole area.

[@connectivitytissues1429]

I'm glad you asked. This is informative. Thank you.

[@kevinfreeman3098]

I still get a jacked up taste every time get x-rays anywhere on my body

[@Ripcord10]

Kevin, that's just straight up in your head then...I spent 6 years studying nothing but radiation. You do know you get the same type of radiation just by living on earth right? Ever eaten a banana? Guess what, they're radioactive too!

[@lehammsamm]

Not sure if this is a TIFO-worthy video, or if it's been done already, but I feel like the history of anesthesia and trial and error involved would be a great video.

[@Noah_E]

Would be interesting. I'm one of the 1/3,000 people who lack an enzyme to break down anesthesia. When I had SARPE they gave me enough to put a normal person under for 2 hours, but I was out for over 9

[@neetard7360]

This would be a good business blaze style video imo

[@Aquamayne100]

absolutely

[@rosevelvet4357]

@@Noah_E my sister is a natural red head so she kind of had the opposite once, they usually ask as they tend to need more to be put to sleep, they didn’t ask and assumed it was dyed and they did the whole count down from 10 thing and she said she got to about 5 and saw the doctor look over at what she assumes was the anaesthesiologist confused. The doctor told us about it and said she got down to -7 before she was out.

[@jimmiedmc1]

Hope you get enough likes to get simon to notice lol

[@BlueNeonLites]

If you haven't done this one yet, you should do a video on Hisashi Ouchi, who suffered massive radiation exposure in 1999 during the Tokaimura nuclear accident. His suffering was horrific, but it is a very good case study on the effects of radiation exposure.

[@WarBeasty]

I've been through the living hell of radiation and chemotherapy.. It was almost 5 years ago and I still have lingering issues from those treatments, however, I'm okay with that because some lingering side-effects are preferable to dying of cancer.

[@Chris_at_Home]

I used to work with both gamma ray and neutron radioactive sources. This was 40 years ago and we wore a film badge. We had to do an extensive calibration on the tools that used a neutron source and I exceeded my monthly dose and had the rest of the that quarter off with pay. They had monthly, quarterly, yearly and lifetime expose limits and I exceeded the quarter in one month.

[@marcusjay8103]

Just wanted to say, you always have fantastic sponsors on every channel. Seems to be a combination of alcohol and cocktail related companies combined with eduction and bettering your life skills. So many creators sell out to terrible companies yet you have always kept your integrity in my eyes. And thank god for no "BOUGHT TO YOU BY RAID! SHADOW LEGENDS" 😂

[@michellemire8462]

It is in fact your boi raid shadow legend

[@zach11241]

I have worked as a veterinary technician for ages now and one of our jobs is to take radiographs (both dental and regular). A regulation to this is our X-ray badge which we have to turn in every few months and which we are required to wear whenever we take any sort of radiograph. When they are submitted they are sent to a company that analyzes them for safety levels of exposure and we are notified if we have exceeded that amount. Now, in my case, I usually take 20-40 regular X-rays a week and 30-60 dental X-rays. Yes, I am usually the volunteer at my clinic for radiographs because I love taking them! I may have issues. That said, in fifteen years on the job I have never had a badge flagged for exceeding our dosage limit. I’ve had them misspell my name, had one get lost, and pretty much every single one I’ve ever had has been covered in blood, viscera and other “fun” stuff; but never exceeded. If your dentist or doctor takes an X-ray of you; you’ll be fine. If they come in with your X-rays and they tell you you’re having something named after you.... well then I’d probably be worried.

[@jrmckim]

Fun Fact: In 2011 a group of 200+ retirees volunteered to expose themselves to high levels of radiation.. so the younger men and women didnt have to. 😢 The group's organizer, Yasuteru Yamada had this to say: "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."

[@HyperWolf]

Ah yeah. I remember this. Awesome guy. Awesome volunteers.

[@bjkarana]

Definition of heroism right there.

[@sarahsayshello9726]

Unfortunately probably 3nough to be able to turn into a fallout ghoul. That would be so cool

[@wintonhudelson2252]

The advanced course of treatment 65 yeas ago for over abundant adnoidal tissue that had developed up into the eustasion tubes was radiation. It looked like that patient was getting an X-ray for 5 minutes on each side, usually done twice, in a six week intervals. This process was also done in the '50s for acne treatment and for other conditions as well.

[@lirrobinson8377]

Industrial radiographer here. We still use rem, rad, R, and curie. Everyone else has moved to the SI system. We do use Bq due to DOT requirements.

[@ckingdds88]

As a Dentist I highly appreciate the ending!

[@glennchartrand5411]

It depends on the type of exposure. An external source of Alphas would do little more than disinfect surfaces , it literally can be blocked by a sheet of paper or the layer of dead skin cells on your body...however if you inhale or ingest the source, the Alphas will start blowing big holes in your living cells, these cells almost never survive the impact so cancer isnt likely, but a lot of cells start dying. Since plutonium accumulates in the liver and bones , if your body can replenish the cells lost fast enough you'll be as healthy as a heavy drinker....you'll live for decades, but cirrhosis of the liver and anemia are inevitable unless you die of something else first.

[@jrmckim]

Liver Cirrhosis is a pretty horrible way to die tho. I watched my father die from that in June. I know its nothing compared to radiation sickness tho.

[@krakenscustoms]

Should have brought up the main principles of limiting exposure ie: time, distance and shielding and how due to the inverse square law, standing no less than 6” away will yield nearly zero absorbed dose by the technician.

[@xXJaneRoseXx]

Perfect timing for this video. It was posted around the time I went to the dentist yesterday.

[@CanadianOverdose]

I went to the dentist yesterday. Thanks Simon.

[@magics902]

I watch so many of your channels and videos. This one was special. Your delivery was perfect. Keep it rolling Simon & team.

[@casbot71]

Like with mushrooms, you can take any amount of radiation, it's just taking it more than _once…_

[@ericthompson3982]

This reminds me of my orientation for my fellowship at a cyclotron lab many years ago. Good job.

[@BFSilenceDogood]

Fantastic beard Simon!

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Actually, only the very upper end of UV (UVC) is considered ionizing. UVA and UVB are not ionizing, though they can still cause burns.

[@zanewaddoups3653]

Excellent overall coverage. I worked on cell towers for 5 years and that is something we had to be aware of on many sites. I'd like to see a video covering tower work and exposure .

[@Rob_Fordd]

My grandfather was a dentist and inventor that basically went to war with the ADA in the 1960s over the dangers of dental X-rays, and even created a plastic shield device that was copied by a Japanese dental hardware company and is standard equipment in that country to this day (he was never sore about it, he wanted as many people to be protected as possible). He believed dental x-rays were necessary of course, but believed that even one a year was carelessly dangerous exposure. He was right at the time at least. In the decades since, technology has gotten to the point where x-rays require a small fraction of the radiation they did back then (like only 5-10% as much!). Still though, best to avoid frequent x-rays. I only get a dental one every other year, and there's actually been some recent concerns raised that source some of my grandfather's work.

[@sally8708]

I definitely clicked on this video for the dental X-ray discussion. Several years ago, I was at a dentist’s office which had just switched to a new computer system. So the hygienist (sweet gal, I have no ill will) was having difficulty getting the X-ray result to appear on her computer and in my file. We ended up taking like 8 or 9 X-rays, and as it progressed it definitely crossed my mind that it might not be okay. I’m glad to know it was fine. I definitely appreciated the shout-out to flight attendants too!! Not many people know about the radiation limiting their number of hours in the sky per month.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

I used to work closely with a few radiology technicians..... 'Time, Distance, & Shielding' was their mantra.

[@donaldwert7137]

Slow clap for Simon's rattling off those math formulae and keeping a straight face while doing it.

[@CartoonHero1986]

I might be having a false memory of the last time I got dental x-rays. But it was for a root canal on a back molar and if I'm not mistaken they didn't even leave the room with this machine they just stood back... but like I said I could be having a false memory since I apparently have "deep roots" and they where having a hard time getting a full x-ray of the tooth and it took several tries. I know the newer machines used today are significantly safer then the older machines they used just 20, 30, and 40 years ago.

[@a-a-ronbrowser1486]

Sweet! I’m actually in this class right now. It’ll be good to get some fresh materials

[@SilentPaul]

I've had 598msv exposure in 4 years. Or 177 years of background worth in just 4 years. Btw my doctors don't seem concerned told me alot of people have more. Had a lifetime amount at age 16 years old as well and I'm 38 now. (Batting with 2 bad kidneys since I was 15)

[@TheFilwud]

20 mSv of radiation increases your lifetime chances of getting cancer by 0.1% or a 1:1000 increase. I have had some wine but I think that increases your chances of cancer by 1:300. Statistically we all have a 50% chance of getting cancer, so you are adding very little to the baseline cancer risk (UK figures)

[@bobthompson4319]

Hisashi Ouchi is the extremely unfortunate person to have the highest radiation dose ever. If you dare and I really mean think and decide very carefully about looking up his picture on google images its insanely bad. His dose was 17,000 severts and the doctors kept him alive forb83 days even though he begged and screamed to be let die.

[@xionmemoria]

Correction: His disgusting family MADE the doctors keep him alive. The doctor ended up losing his shit on them the last time they tried to make them revive him and they reluctantly agreed to let him die.

[@SeanBZA]

Funny, just got the 10mS dosage today, lying in a running CT scanner for a half hour, with the lead clothed radiologist busy using needles on me.

[@DirtyDadJokes]

The CT scanner would not have been “running” for that entire time. The scanner only produces radiation when making an exposure.

[@n_spin]

I had several mouth x-rays a year as a kid in the 70s & 80s after a mouth injury that affected my teeth growing in, and ended up with pretty agressive thyroid cancer in my 40s. Maybe they need lead turtlenecks... Part of my treatment was radioactive iodine, measured in millicuries (named after Marie).

[@SeanBZA]

Could be that, but a lot more likely to be environmental factors as well, that added to the dosage, plus exposure to chemicals, that inhibited the cell repair mechanisms, that were the cause. Live at high altitude, increased radiation from space, live by rocks emitting large amounts of Radon, increased risk. Live by large industrial processes, that dumped fine particulate matter in the air (coal, steel, oil refining, open cast mining amongst others) and water, or live down wind of large industrial plants, that emit waste gas and fine particles, some of which are radioactive isotopes, that are either natural or man made. Safest place to work is in the actual radioactive product industry, where they actively track down and monitor all sources of radiation. Had that, where the trigger was the road crew coming in, and triggering a monitoring well, as they had used a freshly crushed batch of granite, which had more than a little Uranium and Radon in it. The wash water, that they used to clean the dust off the gravel in the batching yard, before coating with bitumen, was a little above background level when they dumped it in a storm water drain, that was using the soak away the plant used.

[@graftongodofmemes]

The contraceptive pill is more likely to have caused it.

[@Just1Nora]

The vests I've worn have always had neck shields specifically to protect the thyroid. And I've had bad teeth since childhood, well technically an acidic body due to a kidney disease, but the result is the same.

[@BEder-it4lf]

One Joule or Coulomb of Electrons past a given point in one second is one amp. E=IxR. If one Amp gets past one Ohm of resistance in one second it has one Volt in the circuit. Power (P) = I × E. 15 amp fuse times 120 Volts gives 1,800 Watts. Or 18 100w light bulbs. 😁

[@shellcase20]

I had a chemistry teacher who had the teacher unit on the killer chemistry and we discussed 3 mile island. She said that the disaster was not as bad as the press made it out to be because the amount of radiation released was very small when it came to exposure to people who lived in the area. I have to say at the time I wasn’t exactly believing her but I have come across several credible articles that basically does say what she was talking about as being true.

[@neetard7360]

With how shielding works on western reactors even a bloody explosion won’t be too much of an issue for everyone else. It’s why Fukushima, as bad as it was, wasn’t Chernobyl levels of bad, despite both being a 7 on the IAEA scale, which is the worst an accident can get.

[@lin9381]

As a dental hygienist I love you even more for the last bit. Great content as always.

[@heyyoutubesuckmucockyoukid5202]

Here in Canada working service rigs we dealt with NORM naturally occurring radioactive material.

[@wacojones8062]

My mom took a 27 roentgen dose working at Mayo clinic for 18 months making radon seeds for trail cancer treatments. Most to hands, wrists and lower arms working around lead blocks pre waldo era just after WW II. That was considered a maximum lifetime dose at that time. A friend's father died of stomach and intestinal cancer after being on the team that made the Trinity and Nagasaki pits. Plutonium dust inhalation. No payment to family as he was listed as working for Westinghouse as a tool maker in the Cicero Illinois torpedo plant. Lots of hidden exposures in the early years. I knew others who were at Various bomb tests while on active duty in the US Army. Keep digging.

[@fensoxx]

I am a radiological nerd and that was the best explanation of the units of absorption I’ve seen yet. Nice. Thanks. See ya.

[@bellbottomblues777]

thank you for another video of fulfilling my niche interest, i owe you :D

[@TheFarCobra]

The medical X-ray risk was well explained by Harry Dean Stanton in the movie “Repo Man”

[@MasterZeeeee]

I would like to ad that in medical imaging we use the ALARA principle with stands for "As low as reasonable acceptable" In short, we use the lowest possible dose we can to obtain the information we need to make a diagnosis. This is really needed in pediatrics as kids are much more sensitive to radiation then adults Also we use non radioactive imaging when ever we can, if we can find the source of the problem with ultrasound, we won't use X-rays

[@pegasusted2504]

Something I am curious about Mr Whistler is given the breadth of topics and the "in depth", within the limit impossed by a 10 minutes or so video, nature of the information how much would you say you have gained in terms of knowledge and has doing so many videos on so many different subjects increased the ease with which you read unknown, to yourself, scripts?

[@pauld6967]

Simon has stated in one of his previous videos that it goes in one ear and out the other. He claimed that he basically knows the information while reading the script but retrains little, if any, once filming is done. I consider what he is describing as the difference between cramming for a test in a subject versus actually studying in-depth and getting to know the subject matter.

[@henryturnerjr3857]

As a chronic watcher of disaster documentaries the different ways they measure radiation has always confused me. One you missed though is Becuels or Terrabecuels I think. Otherwise thanks for explaining!

[@TheFilwud]

You mean becquerels used to measure the amount of radioactive material. a Bq is 1 disintegration per second, a tiny amount of radioactive material. We measure radioactive contamination in Bq per square centimetre, anything less than 4 Bq/cm2 is considered clean (0.4 for alpha emitters). (I think, its years since I had to do that, the mind fades!)

[@HerkulesNorsk]

Becquerel explain how many times an atom spilt every second. When we talk about terra becquerel is just to shorten down the number. You can also use Curie here, which is Becquerel diveded by 37,5. But Becquerel is the SI number. The most common unit to measure radiation in Europe is Sievert today. It tels how much you obtain. You also have Sievert pr Hour, wich is dose absort pr hour. Best regard from one who work with industrial radiography. Both radioactive isotop and X-ray machines.

[@HerkulesNorsk]

@Matthew Morycinski Yeah we use SE75 and IR192 on thick weld line for the most. A fullt loaded IR192 is about 1500Gbq

[@andromenia1]

I saw a documentary stating that 3.6 roentgens is not great, but not terrible either…

[@leebutcher1294]

Another great video

[@6ixConfessions]

Looks like Simon's glorious beard is taking the festive season off.😄

[@wonder_9315]

This is literally a question I was asking myself yesterday 😂

[@pauld6967]

Bill Bixby would approve of your Banner's lab/Hulk reference more than Stan Lee since it fits the television show's "didn't know his lab assistant had increases the output" experiment origin story closer than the comic book's "open air gamma bomb test" origin story. :-)

[@ImWearingPantsNow]

I worked at a nuclear power plant for a time. Fun stuff. Convinced a supervisor to take me on a tour of the 'off limits' part of containment during a lull... sure enough, nearly as soon as we passed the "once we pass this gate, do NOT stop moving for ANY reason" gate, my dosimeter went nuts. Scared my supervisor more than me (his never went off), and turned out to be a defective meter. Also once had the pleasure of escorting a gentleman in to containment to repair the elevator who had a tattoo which indicated that he had spent time in one of Germany's camps several decades ago. I miss that place.

[@Spartan111MS]

As a Normal Public Announcement for the Thumbnail. If you see an Anteater or the like T-posing it does NOT mean it wants to hug. It means you're a few steps away from get chunks ripped out of your lower body.

[@HyperWolf]

I’ve had so many X-rays and CT scans and I’m about to have another CT scan next week. Not the video I would have chosen to watch. 😂 Edit: Never mind. I think this helped with the anxiety. Thanks Simon.

[@shorey66]

As a radiographer. Please speak to the person doing the scan. They should be happy to talk you through it. If you're in the UK they have to display (by law) a poster showing the equivalent dose for your scan. The more modern scanners have come on really well with reducing dose.

[@HyperWolf]

@@shorey66I had the scan a few months ago but I appreciate the advice. I’m in the US so I don’t think that’s required here but I’m sure if I’d asked they would have talked to me about it. They do always ask me beforehand if I have questions. It definitely helped to know that during my head CT I absorbed less than the abdominal ones I’ve had in the past. It’s cool that the UK displays the posters with equivalent doses, if we did that I wouldn’t have had to research.

[@Nesseight]

Scary stuff. Gotta keep that packet of iodized salt handy.

[@eugenecbell]

Also, I only get a few exposures per year at the dentist, but the tech would receive many exposures per day, perhaps thousands of time more than I.

[@jetfowl]

"How much radiation can a human body take?" A whole lot. "How much radiation can a human body take... and stay alive?" A whole lot less.

[@daniellewis3330]

My PhD candidacy work is on a novel kind of x-ray machine that might even remove the need for the lead apron and wall, so this video made me smile 😃

[@jfhchenier]

Merci Gilles, c’était très intéressant!

[@benmcreynolds8581]

That math calculations meme is so perfectly used In this video. I was literally catching my brain breaking trying to keep up on the absorption equation process..?

[@aleks2194]

should have mentioned Hisashi Ouchi, what a horrible fate

[@chuckoneill2023]

Many modern X-ray machines now use sensors similar to video cameras, not film. In most cases, thus requires even less of an x-ray dosage.

[@m1k3droid]

Now use what you learned on this video and do a video about the habitability of colonizing mars assuming one spends 95%+ of one's time on Mars underground/under a couple feet of martian regolith.

[@1003JustinLaw]

No wonder Homer Simpson can survive working at the nuclear plant for so damn long while getting pieces of uranium stuck down the back of his shirt so many times.

[@kathrynvanwaart]

I have reached the point where nothing but simons content pleases me

[@sandybarnes887]

Then it's a good thing he has 12 channels to please you.

[@MissMargaret]

You know the South Park joke “Simpson’s did it!”? For educational content in a few years we can use “Simon did it!” #factboi

[@potatomatop9326]

Imagine if 7 billion people turned to hulks.

[@pete3252]

To paraphrase George Carlin, "Everyone would be aggressive and no one would be in charge... Kind of like now." 😁

[@frank83153]

“See that blue light boys? That blue light means sad boy hours”

[@abbismith5715]

I've had loads of dental xrays, but was never told to put on a lead vest !?!?

[@tpl608]

More ads and discussion of ads than USA network TV and that is saying something.

[@raultorres1357]

So feral ghouls from fallout, any thought?

[@ryanm9566]

Although it probably isn't relevant, there's at least two more commonly used measures for radiation. The Curie and the Becquerel.

[@holdthis2964]

great video. but why with ultrasound and mri are we still using xrays especially when the image quality is often superior? almost every drug and image test increases the risk of cancer or bodily harm. they even inject you with radioactive dye when they do these otherwise harmless test (mri and ultrasound) it's madness.

[@gmoney4980]

Simon's beard game is god like presently... & I need to see a dentist.

[@pjeaton58]

So, my smoke alarm will warn me of a fire - but slowly dose me with radiation and I die that way !!

[@summerfield858]

You know where I can find some used alahmenium hehe... Good show mate!

[@peterq1978]

you have just enough Gamma Radiation and youll turn into the Hulk.

[@armedpenguin3825]

This is the true question we need answered ☢️

[@peterq1978]

one for Brain Blaze

[@MrSlayerkid117]

I looked for this video 6 times and couldn't find it now it's in my feed a month later lmao

[@duanesamuelson2256]

Just a fun point...if you work in a nuclear plant (I am talking a production plant not a power plant) you also wear a badge to give dosage at death.. I can get the various badge names etc..gf worked at the savanna site for years as a nuclear engineer.

[@mpeap74]

Well done 👍

[@duhmez]

All high energy matter particles are also called radfiation commonly, not just electromagnetic. Typically ions and electrons/muons,tao.

[@WingManFang1]

It would be cool to see you and Kyle Hill do a Collab, he just got back from Chernobyl, he was a guest there for a couple weeks. He’s doing some really cool scientific videos on it.

[@TheNuclearGeek]

Ignorance isn't bliss. We need to stop teaching people that radiation is always some deadly bad thing and start teaching people the truth about how radiation works. We're holding back our species because we accept ignorance in the general public and instill fear about something that should be treated like electricity, not instant invisible death.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

People like to panic, especially Americans it seems.

[@TheNuclearGeek]

@@owenshebbeare2999 That's really not the issue though. People don't panic, they make judgements without the proper knowledge because news organizations and the like get more reaction by scaring people rather than being honest and informative. They use people's ignorance and it's created issues in all kinds of matters since people think they can believe the source and don't think they need investigate or learn for themselves. It's also not just America. Germany for example overreacted and closed all their nuclear plants after Fukishima even though it's unlikely Germany will face a Tsunami anytime soon and that they had insufficient electrical production and had to replace their production with coal and gas instead.

[@sleepykitty8918]

@@owenshebbeare2999 Interesting that you focused on Americans.

[@voshadxgathic]

I remember the scene from Undergrads... "Stay back! This cell phone causes brain cancer and I'm not afraid to use it!"

[@medusagorgo5146]

When I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with my daughter, one of my molars broke in my mouth. I was in the army and I went to the dentist for emergency work. I was in civilian clothes at the time and the technician ushered me in to the room for X-rays, I was confused as to why he was doing that, he never asked me the normal questions prior to taking the X-rays and when I told him that I was pregnant, he said “oh, I thought you were just fat”. Yeah, that stung. He was quite the ass.

[@chrisyanover1777]

You should do segment or mention the dentist who got it on with his hygienist on the X-ray machine and kept hitting the X-ray button and both recieved a lethal dose of radiation.

[@IIDave]

Simon's beard is looking glorious!

[@jackiec498]

He looks like a homeless person.... probably increases the amount of Patreon supporters tho. Poor fella, smdh.

[@mikehunt6107]

I was told in 2009 that i need a mri with contrast (radioactive dye that is injected). I found out several years ago that it is 6 mri that have to be broken into Two appointments at least 3 months apart for my kidneys. My poor kidneys.

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@texan-american200]

In other words, it's far more merciful to be vaporized by a nuclear blast than to survive it.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

In Japan, sure, given the Hibakusha status of bomb survivors came with a vast amount of discrimination by other Japanese.

[@texan-american200]

@@owenshebbeare2999 Yes, but I would think that discrimination would be the least of my worry's considering the long and painful suffering before dying as described by Whistler.