By: MICHELLE PARK
Staff Writer
One would probably hear the word ‘Radiation’. However, radiation is invisible, and people sometimes don’t know exactly what it is or how serious it is. Therefore, I will explain how serious radiation exposure is with symptoms and exposure cases.
Radiation exposure is when our body is exposed to radiation. The scary thing about radiation exposure is that it destroys creatures from the inside. Radiation destroys DNA, so cells cannot reproduce and genetic changes occur. Low radiation exposure causes cancer, leukemia, hair loss, and infertility. In severe exposure, as in the case of the workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the radiation breaks down the cells, causing the skin to peel off, cells in the internal organs to die, and pores all over the body to bleed. Diarrhea and dehydration also occur, and death occurs as soon as a few hours, most often within 30 days. In 1999, Tokaimura nuclear accident, two workers were badly exposed to radiation. One died with all the skin peeling off and all organs destroyed. The other person was exposed to more severe radiation, had his chromosomes torn to shreds, and died two months later with the same symptoms as the previous worker.