The MOST RADIOACTIVE Places on Earth

Radiation is frightening. At least, certain types of it are. Meaning, if Geiger counter doesn't go off near mobile phone, or the Wi-Fi router or microwave. That's because Geiger counter only measures ionizing radiation, that is radiation with enough energy to rip electrons off atoms. And it's measured in units called sieverts. If you're exposed to more than 2 sieverts all at once, you'll probably die shortly after that. But we're exposed to low levels of ionizing radiation all the time.

Bananas for example are rich in potassium and some of that potassium is naturally radioactive. So when you eat a banana, you're actually exposed to about 0.1 microsieverts of radiation. That's one per ten millionth of a sievert. Let's use a banana for scale of radiation doses. You know, since people eat bananas we become radioactive too. So you're actually exposed to more radiation if you sleep next to someone than if you sleep alone. But don't worry about that, because that dose is insignificant compared to the natural background radiation of earth. There's ionizing radiation coming out of the soil, in the rocks, in the air, and even from space.

The level of radiation in Sydney is about 0.15 microsieverts per hour, and that's about average globally. The level's usually between 0.1 and 0.2 microsieverts per hour. But there are places with significantly higher levels. Some places you'd expect to have high levels of radiation might surprise you. In Hiroshima, japan, where the worlds first nuclear bomb was detonated over a city. Well the level of radiation today almost 70 years later is only 0.3 microsieverts per hour. In an airplane as you gain altitude there's less atmosphere above you to shield you from cosmic rays. So the level of radiation inside the plane can go up to 0.5 microsieverts per hour at 18,000 feet, up to 1 microsieverts per hour at 23,000 feet, over 2 microsieverts per hour at 30,000 feet, and over 3 microsieverts per hour at even higher altitudes and toward the poles.

So where on earth do you think receives the maximum dose of ionizing radiation? The answer is Chernobyl.

Chernobyl nuclear reactor number 4. It melted down on April 26, 1986. So, what happened was so much heat was generated inside that reactor that it basically blew the top off and spreading radioactive isotopes throughout this whole surrounding area and over into Europe. And that's why we can still detect the contamination here today. Now, right now it's reading around 5 microsieverts an hour.

But that just places that exposed with high levels of radiation. So who on earth do you think receives the maximum dose of ionizing radiation? The answer is a smoker's lungs. A smoker's lungs on average receive a 160,000 microsieverts worth of radiation every year. That's due to the radioactive polonium and radioactive lead in tobacco that they're smoking. So not only are they exposed to carcinogens and toxins, they also receive very high levels of radiation.

Source : [Veritasium]