Fetuses are especially sensitive to radiation exposure. 8.3 Acute and Chronic Exposure Acute exposure or an acute dose means the exposure is delivered in a short period of time. The exact time frame is not well defined, but exposures received in hours or days are considered acute. Acute exposure does not necessarily mean a large and a lethal dose. It just mean a short time frame.
Chronic exposure is exposure spread over a longer period of time.
The early effect of radiation exposure include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding. These effects are observed in people who receive acute radiation doses of hundreds of rads to the whole body. The delayed effects are biological symptoms which appear in the exposed person years after the exposure. They include cancer, genetic effect, a shortened life span, and cataract. Genetic effect is the effects of radiation exposure manifested in the offspring of exposed parents.