MCG Radiation Safety Guide 1. During pregnancy, you should be aware of things in your surroundings or in your style of life that could affect your unborn child. Actually, everything is radioactive and all human activities involve exposure to radiation. Radon gas in homes is a problem of growing concern.
Background radiation comes from three sources.
The rem is a unit that reflects the biological damage done to the body. The first two of these sources expose the body from the outside, and the last one exposes it from the inside. The average person is thus exposed to a total dose of about 125 millirems per year from natural background radiation. In addition to exposure from normal background radiation medical procedure may contribute to the dose people receive. NRC regulations and guidance are based on the conservative assumption that any amount of radiation, no matter how small, can have a harmful effect on an adult, child, or unborn child.