4 ms·
Ok. Exposure equiv to 1 banana. Sounds innocuous. But, is that 1 banana per day, hour, minute, per walk by the contaminated creak? And, for folks living near
by njharman 16y ago
Ok. Exposure equiv to 1 banana. Sounds innocuous. But, is that 1 banana per day, hour, minute, per walk by the contaminated creak? And, for folks living near/in contaminated area with say 2 beqs a day. Has there been any studies of radiological health effects of "eating" 2beqs a day for 365 days over 10 years.
This measurement unit swings too far in the other direction of making radiation sound safe and tasty.
Radiation exposure is cumulative, every bit damages dna/cells even if only a little. I stopped eating Brazil nuts as a kid due to radiation amount. Now considering limiting banana to 1-2week instead of 1-2 day I eat now.
- confuzatron 16y agoThere's no need to cut down on bananas - simply wrap the banana in a thin layer of lead before ingesting. Seriously though, you could be hit by a bus tomorrow; eat the dang bananas.
- Dove 16y agoActually, there has been a study done, and a fairly statistically robust one at that. There appears to be no cause for concern if you do the math. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1430003 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1430003
- RK 16y agoThe radiation hormesis effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis
- Dove 16y agoPotassium in a banana: 400 mg. Recommended daily intake of potassium: 3500 mg. Don't try so hard to avoid radiation sickness that you wind up malnourished.
- jcl 16y agoMore to the point: Bananas are radioactive precisely because of the large amount of potassium they contain -- naturally occurring potassium contains a radioactive potassium isotope. You must consume some amount of radioactive material as part of your daily potassium intake regardless of whether it comes from bananas or other food sources. Brazil nuts are another matter, as they are radioactive because they contain radium, which your body doesn't need.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]