Radioactive tingle

[Michael McNaughton <mcnaught@lanl.gov>]

At 12:08 PM 2/10/00 -0600, you wrote:
>He said "his lips began to tingle" 

Seriously, victims of major accidents reported feeling a sensation in their
nerves after receiving on the order of 1,000 rad. Is it possible that 1,000
rad has an immediate effect on nerves?

The lips are especially sensitive. To take P-32 as an example, the local
dose rate to the lips from a 1-mCi hot particle of P-32 is on the order of
1,000 rad/h. It seems unlikely but conceivable that this might cause a
sensation.

mike

Mike McNaughton
email: mcnaught@LANL.gov or mcnaughton@LANL.gov
phone: (505)667-6130
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html