Radiation hazards in medicine , industry and education

Introduction Ionising radiation is widely used in medicine, industry and education. Most people are familiar with medical applications for diagnosis and treatment of disease. However the public at large is probably not aware just how commonly it is used in industry. Such uses include: the measurement and control of various processes e.g. liquid levels in bottling and canning plants and the thickness and density of a wide range of materials, the examination of metallic structures for defects, the radiation treatment of plastics to change their properties and the sterilisation of medical products. Educational applications range from demonstrating the basic laws of radiation physics to sophisticated studies of chemical and biological processes using chemical compounds which have been labelled with suitable radioisotopes. Furthermore many pieces of laboratory equipment, for example X-ray diffractometers and X-ray fluorescence analyzers, incorporate a source of radiation.