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Dosimetry

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Environmental Radon

Part of the book series: Environmental Science Research ((ESRH,volume 35))

Abstract

A man walks into the doctor’s office, raises his arm and says, “Doc, it hurts when I do this.” The doctor says, “Don’t do that.” An old vaudeville joke may seem an odd start to a chapter on dosimetry, but hidden within this joke is a kernel of truth concerning the nature of dosimetry and why we bother with it. The field of radiation protection is faced with past experience concerning the uranium miners and other groups exposed to radon and its progeny. If we look carefully, there are lessons to be learned from these experiences, lessons which can guide us in determining how to act in future situations involving radiation which might differ in some way from the past experiences. For example, new experiences may differ from the past in regard to the amount of radioactivity inhaled, the kind of radioactivity inhaled, the size of the particles inhaled, or even the ages and health of the people involved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Douglas J. Crawford-Brown

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  1. Douglas J. Crawford-Brown
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Office of the Administrator (A101F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 20460, Washington, DC, USA

    C. Richard Cothern

  2. Center for Research Information, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 West St. Clair Street, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA

    James E. Smith Jr.

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Crawford-Brown, D.J. (1987). Dosimetry. In: Cothern, C.R., Smith, J.E. (eds) Environmental Radon. Environmental Science Research, vol 35. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0473-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0473-7_6

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