[ RadSafe ] [EXTERNAL] Bq/kg soil

Tue Dec 6 14:04:44 CST 2011

Mike,

Not so surprising after having been involved in answering long time ago Chernobyl related questions in Austria - "Can I eat the mushrooms I collected yesterday in the xxxx forest?" It seems fortunately that he did not know about K-40! BTW this person was obviously satisfied after I told him, if he brought them to me, I would fry them in front of him in butter and eat them........

Best regards and happy treatment of radiophobia!

Franz 

---- "Brennan schrieb:
> Years ago I got a call from someone who had just learned about K40, and
> wanted to know how to get rid of it, because he didn't want to be
> exposed to any radiation at all.  Alas, he was not a satisfied customer,
> because he didn't want to hear that (a) it couldn't be done and (b)
> trying would kill him.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Bill Prestwich
> Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:35 AM
> To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing
> List'
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] [EXTERNAL] Bq/kg soil
> 
> Most people are quite surprised to learn they are themselves radioactive
> and
> are typically radiating some 400 gammas per second due to the K-40.
> 
> Bill
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of John R Johnson
> Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 2:04 PM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] [EXTERNAL] Bq/kg soil
> 
> Mike
> 
> I usually add that K-40 is a naturally occurring isotope, and we need 
> potassium to live.
> 
> John
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Brennan, Mike (DOH)
> Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 9:34 AM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] [EXTERNAL] Bq/kg soil
> 
> Hi, Karen.
> 
> When I am explaining rad issues to members of the public, I usually
> explain some of the basic principles, such as decay and energy and
> specific activity/ half life, and then address the specific topic
> (radon, fallout, depleted uranium, whatever) in broad, qualitative
> terms.  At that point I pause and say, "Now, from here on out, it gets
> complicated."  That usually gets a laugh.
> 
> That isn't, however, a cop-out.  A question like, "How does risk
> increase with increased contamination on farm land?" has probably 100
> assumptions that need to be made or clarifying questions that need to be
> asked before a meaningful answer can be given (and if we parsed it out
> and found it was closer to 200, I wouldn't be surprised).  Some of the
> assumptions can be fairly straight forward, but some would require
> gathering data in order to come up with something useful.
> 
> Without for a moment claiming I can hold a candle to Einstein, I like to
> think I understand what he meant when he said, "Do not worry about your
> difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
> This isn't discouragement; rather it  implies that even when you've
> learned a lot about a cool subject (like rad), there is still a lot left
> to learn.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Karen Street
> Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 8:02 PM
> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] [EXTERNAL] Bq/kg soil
> 
> Jim and others, much thanks for your help! Now to figure out what I want
> to explain to the public.
> 
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--
Franz Schoenhofer, PhD, MinRat
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
mobile: ++43 699 1706 1227