Tracy Bliss L
Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2010 Nov;142(1):40-5. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncq202. Epub 2010 Aug 21.
The question arises as to whether radiation standards and guidelines set for adults are sufficiently protective of children. To answer this question, published literature values have been used to calculate radiation doses to children and adults from external and internal exposure to a suite of 30 radionuclides commonly found in the environment. It was found that older children and adults face about the same degree of risk from external radiation exposures, although doses may be ∼30 % elevated for infants due to their smaller body size. Inhalation risks in children are to a large degree offset by lower breathing rates and it is only in the case of iodine isotopes that children are more at risk. Ingestion of contaminated food products is more complex. Isotopes of iodine and the bone-seeking elements strontium and radium can give radiation doses up to an order of magnitude higher than for adults.
对于为成年人设定的辐射标准和准则是否足以保护儿童这一问题，人们提出了疑问。为回答这个问题，已使用已发表文献中的数据来计算儿童和成年人因外部和内部接触环境中常见的30种放射性核素而受到的辐射剂量。研究发现，年龄较大的儿童和成年人面临的外部辐射暴露风险程度大致相同，不过由于婴儿体型较小，其剂量可能会高出约30%。儿童较低的呼吸频率在很大程度上抵消了吸入风险，只有碘同位素的情况除外，此时儿童面临的风险更高。摄入受污染的食品情况更为复杂。碘同位素以及亲骨性元素锶和镭所产生的辐射剂量可能比成年人高出一个数量级。
