Radiation in the living environment: sources, exposure and effects

We are living in a milieu of radiations and continuously exposed to radiations from natural sources from conception to death. We are exposed to radiation from Sun and outer space, radioactive materials present in the earth, house we live in, buildings and workplace, food we eat and air we breath. Each flake of snow, grain of soil, drop of rain, a flower, and even each man in the street is a source of this radiation. Even our own bodies contain naturally occurring radioactive elements. The general belief is that the radiations are harmful and everybody is scared of the same. The cancer is the most important concern on account of exposure to Ionizing Radiation which is initiated by the damage to DNA. The level of exposure depends on the environmental and working conditions and may vary from low to moderate to high and depending on the same the exposed humans can be classified as general public, non nuclear workers (NNW) and nuclear workers (NW). Though, the LNT theory which is considered to be the radiation paradigm considers all radiation at all levels to be harmful and the -severity of the deleterious effect increases with the increase in dose, however, the available literature, data and reports (epidemiological and experimental) speaks otherwise particularly at low levels. The purpose of this paper is to address the question, whether the radiation is harmful at all levels or it is simply media hype and the truth is different, and to promote harmony with nature and to improve our quality of life with the knowledge that cancer mortality rates decrease following exposure to LLIR. Various sources of radiation exposure and the subsequent consequences will be discussed. (author)