Recognized effects of higher acute radiation doses

Absorbed dose

Absorbed dose is a measure of the energy deposited in a medium by ionizing radiation per unit mass...

 are described in more detail in the article on radiation poisoning

Radiation poisoning

Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...

. Although the International System of Units

International System of Units

The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...

 (SI) defines the sievert

Sievert

The sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray...

 (Sv) as the unit of radiation dose equivalent, chronic radiation levels and standards are still often given in unts of millirems (mrem), where 1 mrem equals 1/1000 of a rem and 1 mrem equals 0.01 mSv. Light radiation sickness begins at about 50–100 rad

Rad (unit)

The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose. The rad was first proposed in 1918 as "that quantity of X rays which when absorbed will cause the destruction of the malignant mammalian cells in question..." It was defined in CGS units in 1953 as the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by...

 (0.5–1 gray (Gy)

Gray (unit)

The gray is the SI unit of absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation , and is defined as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one kilogram of matter ....

, 0.5–1 Sv

Sievert

The sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray...

, 50–100 rem, 50,000–100,000 mrem).

The following table includes some dosages for comparison purposes, using millisieverts (mSv) (one thousandth of a sievert). The concept of radiation hormesis

Radiation hormesis

Radiation hormesis is the hypothesis that low doses of ionizing radiation are beneficial, stimulating the activation of repair mechanisms that protect against disease, that are not activated in absence of ionizing radiation...

 is relevant to this table – radiation hormesis is a hypothesis

Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...

 stating that the effects of a given acute dose

Acute toxicity

Acute toxicity describes the adverse effects of a substance that result either from a single exposure or from multiple exposures in a short space of time...

 may differ from the effects of an equal fractionated dose. Thus 100 mSv is considered twice in the table below – once as received over a 5-year period, and once as an acute dose, received over a short period of time, with differing predicted effects. The table describes doses and their official limits, rather than effects.

Level (mSv Sievert The sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray... )	Duration	Hourly equivalent (μSv/hour)	Description
0.001	Hourly	1	Cosmic ray dose on high-altitude flight varies from 0.001 to 0.01, depends on position and solar sunspot phase.
0.01	Daily	0.4	Natural background radiation, including radon
0.06	Acute	-	Chest X-ray (AP+Lat)
0.09	Acute	-	Dental X-ray Dental radiography Dental radiographs, commonly referred to as X-ray films, or informally, X-rays, are pictures of the teeth, bones, and surrounding soft tissues to screen for and help identify problems with the teeth, mouth, and jaw. X-ray pictures can show cavities, cancerous or benign masses, hidden dental...  (Panoramic)
0.1	Annual	0.011	Average USA dose from consumer products
0.15	Annual	0.017	USA EPA cleanup standard
0.25	Annual	0.028	USA NRC cleanup standard for individual sites/sources
0.27	Annual	0.031	USA dose from natural cosmic radiation (0.16 coastal plain, 0.63 eastern Rocky Mountains)
0.28	Annual	0.032	USA dose from natural terrestrial gamma radiation sources
0.46	Acute	-	Estimated largest off-site dose possible from March 28, 1979 Three Mile Island accident Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
0.48	Day	20	USA NRC public area exposure limit
0.66	Annual	0.075	Average USA dose from human-made sources
0.7	Acute	-	Mammogram
1 1	Annual	0.11	Limit of dose from man-made sources to a member of the public who is not a radiation worker in the USA and Canada
1.1	Annual	0.13	1980 average USA radiation worker occupational dose
1.2	Acute	-	Abdominal X-ray
2 2	Annual	0.23	USA average medical and natural background http://www.ornl.gov/sci/env_rpt/aser95/tb-a-2.pdf Human internal radiation due to radon, varies with radon levels
2 2	Acute	-	Head CT
3 3	Annual	0.34	USA average dose from all natural sources
3.66	Annual	0.42	USA average from all sources, including medical diagnostic radiation doses
4 4	duration of the pregnancy Pregnancy Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...	0.6	Canada CNSC Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission , previously known as the Atomic Energy Control Board , is the governmental nuclear power and materials watchdog in Canada...  maximum occupational dose to a pregnant woman who is a designated Nuclear Energy Worker.
5 5	Annual	0.57	USA NRC occupational limit for minors (10% of adult limit) USA NRC limit for visitors
5 5	Pregnancy	0.77	USA NRC occupational limit for pregnant women
6.4	Annual	0.73	High Background Radiation Area (HBRA) of Yangjiang, China Yangjiang Yangjiang , historically known as Yeungkong, is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Maoming to the west, Yunfu to the north, Jiangmen to the east, and looks out to the South China Sea to the south. It is famous for being the base of...
7.6	Annual	0.87	Fountainhead Rock Place, Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...  natural
8 8	Acute	-	Chest CT
10 10	Acute	-	lower dose level for public calculated from the 1 to 5 rem range for which USA EPA guidelines mandate emergency action when resulting from a nuclear accident Abdominal CT
50 50	Annual	5.7	USA NRC/ Canada CNSC occupational limit for designated Nuclear Energy Workers(10 CFR 20)
100 100	5 years	2.3	Canada CNSC occupational limit over a 5-year dosimetry period for designated Nuclear Energy Workers
100 100	Acute	-	USA EPA acute dose level estimated to increase cancer risk 0.8%
120 120	30 years	0.46	Exposure, long duration, Ural mountains Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia... , lower limit, lower cancer mortality rate
150 150	Annual	17	USA NRC occupational eye lens exposure limit
175 175	Annual	20	Guarapari, Brazil Guarapari Guarapari is a coastal town on the coast of Espírito Santo, Brazil. It is a part of Greater Vitoria. A municipal capital , it is located 47 km south of Vitória, of the state capital. Its population is 105,116 and its area is 592 km²....  natural radiation sources
250 250	2 hours	125000 (125 mSv)	Whole body dose exclusion zone criteria for US nuclear reactor siting (converted from 25 rem)
250 250	Acute	-	USA EPA voluntary maximum dose for emergency non-life-saving work
260 260	Annual	30	calculated from 260 mGy Gray (unit) The gray is the SI unit of absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation , and is defined as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one kilogram of matter ....  per year peak natural background dose in Ramsar
500 500	Annual	57	USA NRC occupational whole skin, limb skin, or single organ exposure limit
500 500	Acute	-	Canada CNSC occupational limit for designated Nuclear Energy Workers carrying out urgent and necessary work during an emergency. Low-level radiation sickness due to short-term exposure
750 750	Acute	-	USA EPA voluntary maximum dose for emergency life-saving work
1,000 1000	Hourly	1000000 (1000 mSv)	level reported during Fukushima I nuclear accidents, in immediate vicinity of reactor
3,000 3000	Acute	-	Thyroid dose (due to iodine absorption) exclusion zone criteria for US nuclear reactor siting (converted from 300 rem)
4,800 4800	Acute	-	(actually LD50/60) in humans from radiation poisoning Radiation poisoning Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...  with medical treatment estimated from 480 to 540 rem.
5,000 5000	Acute	-	Calculated from the estimated 510 rem dose fatally received by Harry Daghlian on 1945 August 21 at Los Alamos and lower estimate for fatality of Russian specialist on 1968 April 5 at Chelyabinsk-70 Snezhinsk Snezhinsk is a closed town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1957, and was known as Chelyabinsk-70 until 1991... .
5,000 5000			. Most commercial electronics can survive this radiation level.
21,000	Acute	-	calculated from the estimated 2100 rem dose fatally received by Louis Slotin Louis Slotin Louis Alexander Slotin was a Canadian physicist and chemist who took part in the Manhattan Project, the secret US program during World War II that developed the atomic bomb....  on 1946 May 21 at Los Alamos and lower estimate for fatality of Russian specialist on 1968 April 5 Chelyabinsk-70 Snezhinsk Snezhinsk is a closed town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1957, and was known as Chelyabinsk-70 until 1991... .
48,500	Acute	-	roughly calculated from the estimated 4500 + 350 rad Rad (unit) The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose. The rad was first proposed in 1918 as "that quantity of X rays which when absorbed will cause the destruction of the malignant mammalian cells in question..." It was defined in CGS units in 1953 as the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by...  dose for fatality of Russian experimenter on 1997 June 17 at Sarov Sarov Sarov is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. Until 1995 it was known as Kremlyov ., while from 1946 to 1991 it was called Arzamas-16 . The town is off limits to foreigners as it is the Russian center for nuclear research. Population: -History:The history of the town can be divided... .
60,000	Acute	-	roughly calculated from the estimated 6000 rem doses for several Russian fatalities from 1958 onwards, such as on 1971 May 26 at the Kurchatov Institute Kurchatov Institute The Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov.... . Lower estimate for a Los Alamos fatality in 1958 December 30.
100,000	Acute	-	roughly calculated from the estimated 10000 rad Rad (unit) The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose. The rad was first proposed in 1918 as "that quantity of X rays which when absorbed will cause the destruction of the malignant mammalian cells in question..." It was defined in CGS units in 1953 as the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by... dose for fatality at the United Nuclear Fuels Recovery Plant on 1964 July 24.
200,000	Hourly	170000 for over 1100 hours (170 mSV)	Some Chernobyl emergency workers' doses
10,000,000			The most radiation-hardened electronics can survive this radiation level.