- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 33950
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United States Department of Health and Human Services, Radiation Emergency Medical Management
A device that disperses radioactive material by conventional explosive or other mechanical means, such as a spray. See also dirty bomb.
Industry:Medical devices
Also called a "hidden sealed source." an red is a terrorist device intended to expose people to significant doses of ionising radiation without their knowledge. Constructed from partially or fully unshielded radioactive material, an red could be hidden from sight in a public place (e.g., under a subway seat, in a food court, or in a busy hallway), exposing those who sit or pass close by. If the seal around the source were broken and the radioactive contents released from the container, the device could become a radiological dispersal device (rdd), capable of causing radiological contamination. (illustration)
Industry:Medical devices
A naturally occurring radioactive metal. Radium is a radionuclide formed by the decay of uranium (u) and thorium (th) in the environment. It occurs at low levels in virtually all rock, soil, water, plants, and animals. Radon (rn) is a decay product of radium.
Industry:Medical devices
A naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soil, rock, and water throughout the united states. Radon causes lung cancer and is a threat to health because it tends to collect in homes, sometimes to very high concentrations. As a result, radon is the largest source of exposure to people from naturally occurring radiation.
Industry:Medical devices
The ratio between the risk for disease in an irradiated population to the risk in an unexposed population. A relative risk of 1.1 indicates a 10% increase in cancer from radiation, compared with the "normal" incidence. See also risk, absolute risk.
Industry:Medical devices
The rbe of some test radiation (r) compared with x-rays is defined by the ratio d250/dr where d250 and dr are, respectively, the doses of x-rays and the test radiation required for equal biologic effect. (national bureau of standards, 1954)
Industry:Medical devices
A unit of equivalent dose. Not all radiation has the same biological effect, even for the same amount of absorbed dose. Rem relates the absorbed dose in human tissue to the effective biological damage of the radiation. It is determined by multiplying the number of rads by the quality factor, a number reflecting the potential damage caused by the particular type of radiation. The rem is the traditional unit of equivalent dose, but it is being replaced by the sievert (sv), which is equal to 100 rem. For more information, see “primer on radiation measurement” from cdc.
Industry:Medical devices
The probability of injury, disease, or death under specific circumstances and time periods. Risk can be expressed as a value that ranges from 0% (no injury or harm will occur) to 100% (harm or injury will definitely occur). Risk can be influenced by several factors: personal behaviour or lifestyle, environmental exposure to other material, or an inborn or inherited characteristic known from scientific evidence to be associated with a health effect. Because many risk factors are not exactly measurable, risk estimates are uncertain. See also absolute risk, relative risk.
Industry:Medical devices
An evaluation of the risk to human health or the environment by hazards. Risk assessments can look at either existing hazards or potential hazards.
Industry:Medical devices
