9/13/2013 Dealing With Air Travel Radiation Exposure

Source: Care2.com
Date: 9/13/2013 9:30 am
by: Dr. Michael Greger

Doctors appear to be causing tens of thousands of cancers with CT scans and dentists may be causing a few brain tumors with dental X-rays (see my last two videos Cancer Risk from CT Scan Radiation and Do Dental X-Rays Cause Brain Tumors?), but what about these new-fangled airport full-body scanners that use so-called backscatter technology to reduce X-ray exposure? A thousand times less radiation exposure than a chest X-ray, though they’re still being phased out. In fact, flight passengers may get 100 times more radiation during the flight every hour, because they’re so high up in the atmosphere and exposed to more cosmic rays. Does that mean a round-trip cross-country flight is almost like getting a chest X-ray? Yes. Anyone who’s seen my speaking schedule knows I’m totally screwed. But what can you do? As is the answer to so many health questions, you can eat healthily.

7/2/2012 i am radioactive! or: my PET/CT scan - F-18 DOPA (fluorodopa)

Source: bionerd23
Date: 7/2/2012
Editor's Note: I was a bit shocked when I saw this video, poor lady allowed herself to be turned in to a human guinea pig. ;'(

Video Description
my brain is now running on radioactive dopamine...

i was injected with 200 MBq F-18, a radioactive isotope of fluorine, in the chemical form F-18-DOPA.
200 MBq means 200 million decays, resulting in 400 million gamma rays (annihilation photons) every SECOND.
this again resulted in an acute dose of about 5 mSv (including the 0.5 mSv CT scan prior to the PET scan) to me.

this was a scientific study (ethics-commission approved) to study the mechanisms of learning.
studies like this are performed on healthy test subjects on a daily basis.
i'm curious to hear your opinion on the matter...

but anyway, i am not ill, i am a healthy test subject...
or: my PET CAT is chasing the radioactive LAB RAT! =)