Some forms of diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays, CT scans, and mammograms, expose patients to very low amounts of radiation. In ordering imaging, your healthcare provider has determined the benefits of medical imaging far outweigh any hypothetical potential risk.
X-rays diagnose broken bones, abnormal breathing conditions, and more. CT scans can identify tumors, abnormal blood vessels, and other health concerns within the body to guide treatment accurately. Screening mammograms help women achieve the early detection of breast cancer, giving them a better chance of surviving the disease.
But every few years, sensationalist media run stories that can cause panic among those who can be most helped by these imaging tests. We hear or read news about how exposure to too much radiation over time can lead to cancer. And while that’s true, this is not a factor with the very low radiation doses required with imaging tests, even when multiple imaging tests are needed.
To put this in perspective, a screening mammogram exposes a patient to approximately 0.4 mSv (millisieverts) of radiation. A diagnostic CT scan of the chest or abdomen could expose you to 7 or 8 mSv of radiation. But what do these numbers mean?
Simply by living on planet Earth, you’re exposed to about 3.1 mSv of radiation every year, and more if you live at a higher altitude than sea level. In fact, a screening mammogram is equivalent to the radiation exposure you would receive on a couple of round-trip flights between New York and Los Angeles.
If you cook regularly using a natural gas stove, you are exposed to up to an additional 10 mSv of radiation each year.1 If you work as a member of a flight crew (such as a pilot or a flight attendant, the National Institute for Occupational Safety has concluded that 20 mSV is an acceptable level of radiation exposure. Yet despite this added radiation exposure, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that pilots or flight attendants have an increased risk for cancer. If you work at a nuclear power plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires you to limit your exposure to 50 mSv annually.2
The real experts on radiation are not the media. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine is an organization of more than 7,000 medical physicists responsible for the safety and quality of medical imaging and radiation therapy. In response to news stories about medical imaging and radiation, they have warned about predictions based on inappropriate models and “hypothetical risks.”
As a result, they issued a statement that includes the following: “The negative health consequences of deferred imaging examinations undoubtedly far outweigh any risks of having the procedures performed.”
Regardless, it is always the goal of those of us at RadX Imaging Partners to obtain diagnostic images at the lowest possible level of radiation exposure to the patient. But it’s essential to know the facts because another news story about radiation and medical imaging will again make the morning news or lurk as clickbait on your internet browser. But at least now you’ll know the truth, and you are always advised to speak with your doctor if you have concerns about radiation exposure.
- Source Facts and Information About Radiation Exposure. True North Reports, March 21, 2011.
- NRC regulations and radiation exposure limits are contained in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20 Source: United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
