With all the worries over radiation leaks from Japan, and hoarding of potassium iodide tablets, many people might be surprised to learn that they will get more radiation from eating a single banana today than they will from Japan’s nuclear reactor problems.
While doing some research on Thorium reactors, I came across this interesting little fact that I wasn’t familiar with, so I thought I’d pass it along. Many people fear radiation — sometimes the fear is irrational, based on the erroneous concept that we live radiation-free lives. I’ll never forget the time I showed my Geiger counter to a neighbor who was shocked when it started clicking. She was horrified to learn that cosmic rays were in fact zipping right through her body right that very second. I didn’t have the heart to tell her about neutrinos.
But, along the same lines, this little factoid might drive some people “bananas” when they read it. But, it illustrates a fact of life: radiation is everywhere.
A banana equivalent dose (BED) is a concept occasionally used by nuclear power proponents to place in scale the dangers of radiation by comparing exposures to the radiation generated by a common banana. Bananas are high in potassium, and naturally radioactive, due to the isotope potassium-40 they contain. One BED is the radiation exposure received by eating a single banana.
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