Talk:Sievert

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This is incorrect, but I don't know how to correct it. The gray (Gy) is correctly defined; and the sievert is defined from the gray by multiplying by a radiation weighting factor. The radiation weighting factor is defined as 1 for gamma radiation. Thus for gammas, 1 Sv = 1 Gy = 100 rad, which is approximately 87 roentgen (depending on the material.) If someone wants more info and can correct the entry, please email me at mcnaught@unm.edu .

I have made an attempt to construct a more accurate version. --Sievert 18:17Zeroidle (talk) 10:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC), 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed the list of alleged effects of different levels of sieverts, as they are not appropriate in this article. The unit "Sievert" can be applied to either equivalent dose or effective dose. Such effects as "nausea" and "death" are not appropriate if quoted in terms of the effective dose, since effective dose refers to stochastic effects only. These figures may be true in terms of equivalent dose, but you would have to say which part of the body has been irradiated.

If you want to put this back in, I would suggest at equivalent dose or effects of radiation or something.

--Sievert 11:41, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Equvalent dose vs. dose equivalent

The article at Equivalent dose states "The equivalent dose should not be mistaken for dose equivalent." Yet the Sievert article uses these terms interchangably in the same sentence. Someone who really understands the specifics should do some careful editing. Jedwards05 05:12, 17 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Inconsistency

In the following, 50% or more lethality is alleged for more than 3 and more than 4 Sv. Which is it?

More than 3 Sv will lead to death in less than two months in more than 80% of cases, and much over 4 Sv is more likely than not to cause death.

--Walter Siegmund (talk) 18:26, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Quality factor

I've seen different tables of quality factors, and whatever values are used should be referenced. The best source I've found (not even an SI source!) is at [1]; a more authoritative version would be great. Note that this version has much more detail, disagrees on the QF for neutrons, and doesn't suggest a method for in-between values (that I noticed).

CRGreathouse (t | c) 20:28, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do you work the quality factor(s?) into the equation? Can someone please give me an example how the Q values and N values work in an example equation, or maybe just put that into the article. I'm not particularly good at math, but I want to understand how it works, and I don't see any variables in the current example equation for Q or N. - Commandur (talk) 05:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

N values for other species

How come the relative N values are ranged from high value to low value, e.g. 0.3 – 0.03? It just looks odd. Wouldn't 0.03–0.3 make more sense, or is that just a regional bias? /85.228.39.223 11:22, 6 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Q controversy for alpha particles

I'm intrigued by the following statement: "There is some controversy that the Q or RBE for alpha radiation is underestimated due to mistaken assumptions in the original work in the 1950s that developed those values." Have you got a reference for that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.45.14.168 (talk) 02:54, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Individual differences?

How does this scheme handle differences between people? Does a postmenopausal woman still have an N of 0.20 applied to her gonads? Does a non-smoker still have the higher 0.12 value for the lungs? If a nuclear power company knows that a woman has had a hysterectomy and has no gonads, can they assign her to work longer because she doesn't take that dosage? (what if you're comparing two postmenopausal women...?) etc. Wnt (talk) 22:55, 4 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Acute full body equivalent dose

Presumably the time period over which the dose is absorbed contributes somehow? Does 'acute' mean 'delivered over a short (to be qualified) time period'. 'acute'='sharp' suggests this. If so, article should say so, as this is a medical term or art. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.139.136 (talk) 14:18, 16 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have added a clarification about the time period. The definition of "short" is somewhat vage because it is related to the response time of the repair mechanisms in the body, which is not well known; it is larger than seconds and shorter than weeks. 213.4.112.58 (talk) 14:32, 5 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This article needs serious work. It should be brought in line with the latest ICRP recommendations. Note that American literature on quality factors etc is not relevant (especially regulatory literature), as the US has not adopted the sievert. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.223.66 (talk) 15:04, 25 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is it a time rate or cumulative ?

I am looking at this article trying to determine if sieverts are an instanteneous or cumulative amounts.

If the radiation source is emitting x sieverts and you are exposed to it for y hours, did you get a dose of xy sievert-hours ?

Or is the source emitting at x sieverts/hour and you are exposed for y hours, you get xy sieverts ?

It seems impossible that the rate of emission is measured in sieverts and the cumulative dose also in sieverts, thats what is being quoted and makes no sense. Eregli bob (talk) 08:10, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

From the article, it is clear that the unit sievert refers to (absorbed) dose , multiplied by a biological factor, not to dose rate (intensity). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.162.65.50 (talk) 09:56, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Dose Benchmarks

I found very quite different values: Chest radiography is 0.1 mSv Natural background radiation is between 1 and 3 mSv/year

check these links: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/R/Radiation.html http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=chestrad

Also I noticed that the various translation of the page show very different values. Zeroidle (talk) 10:59, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I found a US government source that said a single film from a chest x-ray is 0.1 mSv. Perhaps a typical exam includes more than one film? I found another source that said an x-ray was 0.5 mSv, as well as others that quoted 0.4 mSv. Unfortunately, I've closed those windows and don't want to go check again. There may not be a "right" answer, though, and a range may be better than a single number. I'll let others argue this out. 98.246.191.164 (talk) 12:40, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Should benchmark sections be split to their own page?

The sections on dose and symptom benchmarks are long and not essential to a page about sieverts, but are still useful. I suggest leaving a few benchmarks on this page to help people understand the relative scale of a sievert, while linking to a separate article for additional benchmarks. That page could simply be called "Radiation levels." That page could list all the benchmarks, perhaps with an explanation of different measures as well, such as sieverts, rems and grays. 98.246.191.164 (talk) 12:53, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

examples in dpm

As a scientist used to thinking about dpm, I would like to see some examples of Sv to dpm conversions, I understand that there are a lot of adjustment factors; but I think this would give a nice, concreteness to the idea of the Sv I also dont think the article should be split - it reads very nicely as it is; splitting would really reduce it to a stub - please leave it alone !! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.7.9.151 (talk) 14:11, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

But shouldn't articles on other units of radiation (rems, curies, rads, grays, etc.) also have a list of benchmarks, too? Why should all the benchmarks be focused on the sieverts page, or be duplicated and simultaneously updated across multiple pages? 98.246.191.164 (talk) 14:16, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Radiation unit in Sieverts

The article has a mix of μSv and mSv, one being x1000 the other. This may be confusing to the average reader. Because radiation sickness effects, and this is the concern now, are quoted in millisieverts, I suggest consistent use of the milli-unit. Many measured levels are reported in the μSv, I suggest they be converted to mSv, perhaps in brackets () after the micro unit, if the micro is considered important to keep. We have to indicate scale and magnitude, and limit confusion. 87.60.99.142 (talk) 14:58, 15 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]