0
Gamma rays have very short wavelenght and therefore have very high penetrating power. When gamma rays hit living cells, our cells cannot withstand such an high intensity radiation which results in apoptosis of the cell. The penetrating effect of gamma rays can be minimized by using thick sheets of lead around the gamma ray source.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoTo the Earth itself? No, gamma radiation from the decay of radioactive isotopes is one of the sources of heat that keeps the outer core liquid allowing Earth to have a strong magnetic field that is able to protect the surface from radiation in the solar wind and solar flares, which could easily erase all life on land.
To living things on the Earth? Certainly, gamma radiation can kill, mutate, and cause cancer. But it may also have provided some of the genetic alterations that introduced some of the population variation that natural selection used to enable life to evolve to its present form.
Gamma radiation, in narrow beams, is also used in medical treatment to selectively kill some cancers with minimal harm to surrounding tissue and organs.
So, this question is actually more complex than it might seem at first glance. Gamma radiation has both helpful and harmful aspects.
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThey are highly energetic ionizing radiation that is almost impossible to shield against. They produce trails of ions in anything they pass through and these ions can rip apart organic molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins causing serious disturbances to cellular metabolism including mutations, cancers, or cell death.
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoYes, gamma rays can be harmful for the living beings on earth. They can mess up a cell's DNA and cause mutations when it divides. Your body can lose some cells but if subject to lots of gamma rays, you can lose a lot of your cells. It can also lead to cancer.
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoYes, gamma radiation may be harmful to living cells. Actually, there exists a process of irradiation that kills insects and microorganisms by bombarding food with gamma rays.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoyes
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoYes.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Which is the most dangerous type of nuclear radiation if the source is outside the body?
Gamma
Gamma radiation is it safe to inject into a human but alpha particles would be very dangerous?
Generally no radiation is safe. You cannot "inject" radiation into anything because it is the product of various unstable nuclei decaying. Alpha radiation is much more ionising than gamma, but much less penetrating than it. That makes it more dangerous if it is inside your body; it can be stopped by skin. Therefore you would have to swallow a sample of a radioactive material. However, gamma radiation is always emitted together with alpha or beta radiation.
What is the reaction of the human body to gamma rays?
Gamma rays can cause radiation sickness and cancer in humans.
Why are gamma rays more dangerous outside the skin?
Gamma radiation can cause serious problems to the body. If you come in contact with high levels of radiation it can cause serious illness and death. Possible symptoms include nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, dizziness and disorientation, weakness, fatigue, hair loss, bloody vomit and stools, infections, poor wound healing and low blood pressure.
What form of ionizing radiatin can penetrate deeply into body tissue?
Gamma radiation, X Rays
Which is the most dangerous type of nuclear radiation if the source is outside the body?
Gamma
Is there more severe radiation than gamma?
It depends on the strength of the active source. Alpha radiation is dangerous if it gets inside your body, gamma will penetrate your clothing and body if energetic enough, so it's difficult to give an answer that covers all cases. Health physicists have to consider each type of radiation on its merits.
What type of radiation is probably the most dangerous to humans?
Externally, gamma radiation is dangerous because it can penetrate the body. Alpha is most dangerous if ingested.
What is more dangerous gamma or alpha rays?
alpha radiation is more dangerous than beta or gamma if ingested or inhaled because its power to ionize (or to disrupt atoms) is 20x than that of beta and gamma. but if the source is outside the body or at a distance gamma radiation is much dangerous because it could penetrate thick walls.
What radiation is most dangerous outside the body?
the most dangerous radiation outside your body mostly consists of human disposal waste which smells. Arkenales and gamma are the most dangerous, and have a high percentage of harmful toxins.
Gamma radiation is it safe to inject into a human but alpha particles would be very dangerous?
Generally no radiation is safe. You cannot "inject" radiation into anything because it is the product of various unstable nuclei decaying. Alpha radiation is much more ionising than gamma, but much less penetrating than it. That makes it more dangerous if it is inside your body; it can be stopped by skin. Therefore you would have to swallow a sample of a radioactive material. However, gamma radiation is always emitted together with alpha or beta radiation.
Explain why beta radiation can be used in treating skin cancer but not cancer inside the body?
Beta radiation isn't used for cancer inside the body because it doesn't have the penetrative ability of Gamma radiation. Gamma cannot be used for skin cancer because it would kill too many healthy cells.
What are negative facts about gamma rays?
Gamma radiation has a very short wavelength. This is dangerous to us soft-tissued mammals because our body's natural defenses (like our skin) are unable to keep the radiation out. Gamma radiation has been linked to cancer under the assumption that our cells, once exposed, can be mutated into a cancerous cell.
Why is alpha radiation more dangerous than beta rediation when the source of the radiation is inside the body?
Alpha radiation cannot get pass through our body as it cannot penetrate through things. Beta can penetrate through things better than alpha. So if alpha is inside our body then it cannot get outside our body and therefore it becomes dangerous.
What form of radiation can penetrate deeply into body tissue?
Gamma radiation, X Rays
Why are alpha radiation are more dangerous inside the body than outside the body?
Because in the body alpha particles interact directly with the organism cells.
What form of ionizing radiation can penetrate deeply body tissue?
Gamma radiation, X Rays
