Non Stochastic Effects

A calendar quarter means any 3-month period determined as follows: The first period of any year may begin on any date in January: provided, that the second, third, and fourth periods accordingly begin on the same date in April, July, and October, respectively, and that the fourth period extends into January of the succeeding year (29 CFR 1910 OSHA General Industry Regulations, 2014). Rem means a measure of the dose of any ionizing radiation to body tissue in terms of its estimated biological effect relative to a dose of 1 roentgen (r) of X-rays (1 millirem (mrem)=0.001 rem). The relation of the rem to other dose units depends upon the biological effect under consideration and upon the conditions for irradiation (29 CFR 1910 OSHA General Industry

A non-stochastic health effect is characterized by a threshold dose below which they do not occur (Nde-ed.org, 2009). Non-stochastic effects have a relationship with the exposure and effect. This means the longer the exposure the worse the effect will be. The effects that occur will be visible within an hour up to a couple days. Some non-stochastic effects include erythema (skin reddening), skin burns, tissue burns, cataract formation, sterility, radiation sickness and death. Focusing on radiation burns, the most common body part to be burned is the hand and fingers. These burns occur when radiographers touch or come in close contact with a high intensity radiation emitter (Nde-ed.org, 2009). Also, a common effect in healthcare is radiation sickness. This can occur when an employee is exposed to ionizing radiation for a couple of hours. According to Mayo Clinic, symptoms of radiation sickness can be but not limited to nausea and vomiting, weakness and headache. There are some specific non-stochastic health effects such as hemopoietic syndrome, gastrointestinal syndrome, central nervous system damage, hair loss, blistering and