Posted on 03/18/2011 2:04:53 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
ith all the worries over radiation leaks from Japan, and hoarding of Potassium Iodide tablets, I thought it valuable to repost a link to this story from last month which was very popular.
Many people in the USA would be surprised to learn that they will get more radiation from eating a single banana than they would from Japan’s nuclear reactors.
A banana equivalent dose is a concept occasionally used by nuclear power proponents to place in scale the dangers of radiation by comparing exposures to the radiation generated by a common banana.
Full story:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/02/16/going-bananas-over-radiation/
UPDATE: My friend John Coleman of KUSI-TV in San Diego offers this explanatory video:
(Excerpt) Read more at wattsupwiththat.com ...
I eat them every day! yummy! Great in protien shakes too!
I include a Banana every day in my diet.
I cut up a banana into my oat meal each day. Guess I had stare into a mirror in a dark room to see if I’m glowing yet.
*************************************EXCERPT********************************
The average radiologic profile of bananas is 3520 picocuries per kg, or roughly 520 picocuries per 150g banana.[3] The equivalent dose for 365 bananas (one per day for a year) is 3.6 millirems (36 μSv).
Bananas are radioactive enough to regularly cause false alarms on radiation sensors used to detect possible illegal smuggling of nuclear material at US ports.[4]
Hmmm..I don’t glow as much as you do...I only eat 3-4 bananas a week. Although...I live in Florida and spend a lot of time outdoors in the sunshine...so maybe it balances out!
I am a clinician in the field of therapeutic radiation oncology. Radiation is my friend!
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Think I will purchase a Geiger Counter and a Scintillation Counter to check out what bananas I eat. Throw the rest of them into the garbage pail and fill the pale with boron beads.
My Navy time included two tours aboard nuclear subs and I totally believe that limited radiation is not our enemy and should not be feared. Of course we were badged and I never registered anything. I caught Ann Coulter on the BOR show the other night telling us the same thing backed up by scientific study. The anti-nuclear liberal press is running amok again, still.
For comparison, a human receives 2,400 micro Sv per year from natural radiation in the form of sunlight, radon, and other sources. One chest CT scan generates 6,900 micro Sv per scan.
Gurggle gurgggle ahhhhhh. Good for another day.
I hate bananas. Who knew that would turn out to be a good thing.
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