Smoke detectors to warn us of fire, x-ray machines to detect weapons or other devices in luggage and cargo, and certain types of imaging to look for diseases are all application of radiation for the benefit of society. For treatment deep within the body, high energy photons are sent to reach the target tumour without affecting the surrounding tissue. The advantage of using electron beams rather than gamma radiation is that gamma rays continuously emit radiation, but electron beam processing can be turned on and off. Gamma radiation is an electromagnetic radiation with considerable penetration in air, enabling its use for airborne measurements, but easily attenuated by a relatively thin shield of solid material. The moral of this story is that in order to protect yourself from gamma radiation the best thing to do is to move a long way away. There are a number of disadvantages to the use of radioactive sealed sources that are common to all industries. High-energy photons are emitted from an isotope source (e.g., Cobalt 60). INTRODUCTION This note for guidance is intended for applicants wishing to use ionising radiation in the manufacture of medicinal products. The applications are based on its penetrating power. Uses of gamma radiation Gamma radiation ionizes matter and creates free radicals, which are the intermediate species for many chemical reactions. Radiation is a key tool in the treatment of certain kinds of cancer. Gamma rays are sometimes used to induce chemical change in a object in radiation processing. gamma radiation on humans, as the gamma rays produced by this isotope are extremely high in energy. This provides a long-lasting power source for remotely located devices that have limited access to crews. Radiation technology in surgery and the pharmaceutical industry: An overview of applications Drugs, tissues, and other medical materials sterilized by gamma rays are being used for health care in many countries ^Although drugs such as antibiotics can attack and destroy bacteria within the human body, they are not self-sterilizing. The most common uses of radiations in the food-growing industry is to help remove insects and bacteria from fruits and vegetables. Many uses of radiation help to ensure the high quality and safety of our daily lives. The … Gamma rays are ionizing radiation which can kill living cells. Gamma Rays: Gamma rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation that has a very short wavelength. Gamma rays are sometimes used in nuclear gauges for things like level sensing in … All IntechOpen contributors are offered special discounts starting at 40% OFF available through your personal dashboard, HeadquartersIntechOpen Limited5 Princes Gate Court,London, SW7 2QJ,UNITED KINGDOM, Use of Gamma Radiation Techniques in Peaceful Applications. X-Ray, CT, and PET machines use X-ray (X-ray and CT) and Gamma radiation (PET) to produce detailed images of the human body, which provide valuable diagnostic information for doctors and their patients. It plays an important role in the science and technology needed to ensure product quality and reliability. Uses of beta minus radiation sources. It was released in 1976 for commercial use under the name Nucleoryza. Thousands of these French seeds were irradiated with different amounts of gamma radiation to attempt to create earlier maturation. Discuss the uses of gamma radiation in industry and for medical imaging and treatment. Radiation is used in industry in detectors that monitor and control the thickness of materials such as paper, plastic and aluminium. Irradiation may be used for microbial decontamination, sterilisation or other treatments. Pharmaceuticals, They can easily penetrate barriers, such as skin and clothing that can stop alpha and beta particles. The use of ionizing radiation dates back to the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895, and gamma radiation has been an established sterilization method since the early 1970s (10). Either by killing them directly, or by sterilising the entire male population, insect-related problems can frequently be solved with no harm to the product involved. Gamma radiation is generated by the decay of the radioisotope Cobalt 60, with the resultant high energy photons being an effective sterilant. Remind students that gamma radiation is much less ionising than alpha. Use of Radiation in Other Industrial Processes. The characteristics of a Co/sup 60/ source, the most used gamma source, are discussed in order to indicate the reasons for its wide-spread use. Food irradiation is used to improve food safety by extending product shelf life (preservation), reducing the risk of foodborne illness, delaying or eliminating sprouting or ripening, by sterilization of … One variety headed three weeks earlier than the non-radiated mother seed, and so this seed was chosen to be propagated in Hungary. As a matter of fact, gamma rays have the shortest wavelength of any type of electromagnetic radiation. These fields include nuclear and medical physics, industrial processes, environmental sciences, radiation biology, radiation chemistry, radiotherapy, agriculture and forestry, sterilization, the food industry, and so on. The Environmental Protection Agency has recently declared EO to be both mutagenic and carcinogenic. Uses of Gamma Radiation. Food irradiation is the process of exposing food and food packaging to ionizing radiation, such as from gamma rays, x-rays, or electron beams, without direct contact to the food product. Gamma irradiaton of food. This can be in the form of radiation that penetrates from outside the body, or radioactive particles that are swallowed or inserted into the body. Strontium-90 is the typical fuel source for such batteries. EO has many processing variables and is toxic and expensive. The wire and cable industry also uses cross-linking to strengthen the insulation of wires and cables and make them more heat resistant. Gamma rays are emitted from radioactive forms of the element cobalt (Cobalt 60) or of the element cesium (Cesium 137). Hospitals use radiation in a wide range of ways. They are usually produced in extremely high temperatures or solar flares. Industrial radiography is a modality of non-destructive testing that uses ionizing radiation to inspect materials and components with the objective of locating and quantifying defects and degradation in material properties that would lead to the failure of engineering structures. The smallest unit of radioactivity is the Becquerel (Bq), which correspond to a rate of one disintegration per second (dps). Gamma rays are the most useful type of radiation because they can kill off living cells easily, without lingering there. The thicker the material, the more radiation is absorbed and the less radiation reaches the detector. Radiation can cause cross-linking of some molecules to form giant molecules which have higher heat, chemical and mechanical resistance. Man-Made Radiation 8 Radiation in Industry and Commerce 9 Exposure to Ionizing Radiation 11 Regulating Radiation Use 12 Suggested Reading 14. THE USE OF IONISING RADIATION IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MEDICINAL PRODUCTS 1. Once radiation (cobalt-60 sources) is applied to the monomers from which plastics are made, the formation of large polymer chains is induced. [1] Reminders about the use of radioisotopes and radiation in medicine (medical physics) A more detailed discussion is given near the top of the page - a quick reminder of why radioisotopes are so useful in … Usage of gamma rays in medical treatment. Cobalt-60, the gamma ray emitter is widely used as the radiation source for industrial use mainly because … Gamma irradiation induced physiological changes in crop although, gamma radiation is a technology with immense applications in agriculture, industry and medicine, its potential exploitation in agriculture is limited mainly because of lack of … Gamma radiation. This book deals with gamma radiation in many fields, which encompasses diverse factors that affect human and animal life inside an environment. This helps harden plastics. Doctors may use radioactive chemicals called tracers for medical imaging. The gamma irradiation process uses Cobalt 60 radiation to kill microorganisms on a variety of different products in a specially designed cell. Food irradiation is the process of exposing boxes or pallets of food products to radiation from a Cobalt-60 source. What is gamma radiation? Electron beams can also be used for medical equipment sterilization. Introduction Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation that cannot be seen or felt which have the smallest wavelengths and greatest energy on the electromagnetic spectrum (right above x rays on the electromagnetic spectrum) with wavelengths shorter than 0.1 A0. In Australia, gamma irradiation treatment has been recognized legally as an alternative to burning contaminated hives; the instructions which are given to beekeepers in … Doses of 1-10 kGy have been recommended. X-rays, gamma rays, and other forms of ionizing radiation are used to diagnose and treat some medical conditions. High-energy gamma radiation produces electron disruptions (ionization) in any material that it encounters. 5c. It then sends signals to the equipment that adjusts the thickness of the material. What are the effects of gamma radiation? Industry uses gamma radiation sterilization because of its superior reliability, safety, and cost savings over the EO fumigation method. There are three sources of radiation approved for use on foods. In addition to its use in radiation therapy, gamma radiation is of value in the chemical, plastic, rubber, and petroleum industries, pharmaceutical industry, food sterilization and preservation, and measurement and control technology. The benefits in medicine for diagnosis and treatment in terms of human lives saved are enormous. Because x-rays and gamma rays can travel through different types of materials, such as air, soil and water, industrial radiography is useful in inspecting materials without having to move or damage the material itself. The ionizing radiation destroys dangerous contaminates in foods such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and insects. These photons can create ionization (electron disruptions) throughout a product. 1 Introduction While ... Gamma rays are a radiation hazard for the entire body. They are used to treat malignant tumours in radiotherapy. They are therefore often used to fight cancer and to sterilise food, and kinds of medical equipment that would either melt or become compromised by bleaches and other disinfectants. The greatest use of gamma radiation in the beekeeping industry is in the control of AFB by sterilizing hive equipment contaminated with Bacillus larvae. Industrial radiography uses x-ray and gamma radiation to show flaws that cannot be detected by the naked eye. The process is not new; it’s been around for the past 60 years. The use of radiation and nuclear techniques in medicine, industry, agriculture, energy and other scientific and technological fields has brought tremendous benefits to society. Uses of radiation in industry Matthew Haworth Gamma Gamma rays are used in some imaging systems such as gamma camera, radiography using a point source of a gamma emitter and in PET imaging. The oil industry uses alpha radiation to power some of their offshore equipment.