How do you get cancer from radioactive waste?

Answer 1

To understand the answer to this question, we must first understand exactly what radioactivity is. When something is radioactive, it means that its atoms are constantly throwing off tiny particles of themselves. These tiny particles travel at great speed away from the radioactive substance until they hit something. If they hit something like rock or a sheet of lead, they may bounce off or even be absorbed. If they hit something like human tissue, they can cause damage to the cells of that tissue.

Sometimes, the damage caused by these ballistic particles can cause the DNA in the nucleus of the cell to get messed up. Sometimes this DNA damage causes the cell to die. If cells die at a great enough rate, the simple increase in the amount of times that kind of tissue must reproduce to keep the tissue alive can increase the chance of mutations in the cells. Once a cell becomes mutated, this mutation can cause the cell to die, or it can cause the cell to proliferate abnormally quickly, leading to a cancer.

In still other cases, the damage to the DNA from the radioactive particles themselves can cause the cell to begin the process of mutation, where the cell changes to one that can no longer stop dividing and growing, again causing a cancer.

People who live near to, or are otherwise exposed to radioactive waste, are constantly bombarded by these radioactive atomic particles, and are at greater risk than the general population for becoming victims of cancerous disease.