Existing standards considerably underestimate the amount of radiation absorbed by a child’s head, say researchers from the US.
Radiation absorption is assessed using a model of a head that is based on the head size of the top 10% of US military personnel and is usually referred to as ‘SAM’. This is not an appropriate model to assess radiation absorption of the population, say Om Gandhi and team, because smaller heads absorb more radiation.
Children absorb more radiation than adults and much more than the SAM model. They can absorb up to three times as much in the hippocampus and hypothalamus and they can absorb ten times as much in the bone marrow.
The authors call for an alternative method of measuring radiation absorption using anatomically accurate models of people of various ages as opposed to ‘SAM’.
(Gandhi OP et al, Electromagn Biol Med, Oct 14, 2011.) from ‘EMR and Health’ Dec 2011, vol 7 no 4
About The Author – Lyn McLean is a consumer advocate, author and educator and has been monitoring and writing on the subject of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) for over 20 years. She is the director of EMR Australia.
Follow on Feedly 