For a complete description of our waste disposal procedures, please call X4150 and request a copy of our written guidelines. The general public can sometimes become alienated from science. This is especially true in the area of ionizing radiation. Although many scientists try to communicate to the pub-lic about ionizing radiation, their attempts are often frustrated by the use of incomprehensible quantities and units. There is a need for a radiation quantity and its associated unit that is understandable to patients, radiation workers, and to the general public.
Ionizing radiation is directly proportional to effective dose equiva-lent.
The proposed unit for ionizing radiation is time in hours, days, weeks, months, or years. Thus, at any future time, the effective dose equivalent in mSv can be redetermined if needed for legal or scientific purposes. The actual values will vary considerably from one medical facility to another and will, of course, depend on the size of the patient. Some people may fear an additional year of background radiation a hazard. It is interesting to compare the total amount of ionizing radiation to the public from various sources using the new unit for ionizing radia-tion.