Abstract
Scientific literature provides copious evidence on adverse health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation. Nevertheless, despite an abundance of research, conflicting data still exist. Nowadays, there’s undisputed opinion on negative health effects of high-dose radiation exposure. Although there’s shortage of convincing data and unanimity of opinion on exposure to low-dose radiation and associated health risks. Present work is a short review of data around the given issue. Research on the effects induced by exposure to ionizing radiation proves that high-dose ionizing radiation has detrimental impact on human health. Nevertheless, there’s no common opinion among scientists on the effects of low-dose radiation despite widely known linear no-threshold model and stochastic effects for which no exposure threshold levels exist. Taking into account above mentioned, best means of avoiding possible harmful effects of radiation exposure must be unwavering adherence to guiding principle of radiation safety (“ALARA” – “as low as reasonably achievable”) meaning avoiding exposure to radiation that does not have a direct benefit even if the dose is small.
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