Slashdot Mirror
Radiation Protection: Caffeine
B.D.Mills writes "This article on the New Scientist web site claims that "drinking coffee could protect people from radioactivity, according to scientists in India who have found that mice given caffeine survive otherwise lethal doses of radiation."
" Hmm...so does this mean I don't need to worry about the background radiation from my monitor?
That's a f'ing lot of caffeine. Wouldn't that be nearly fatal anyway? Also, is it possible that the increased metabolic rate produced by that level of caffeine might have been a contributor to the effect?
I just wanna see what mice injected with 50+ mg of caffeine look like. Put them sons of bitches on a wheel, goddamn it! You could light up a city!
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
I read on www.caffeine.com that the LD50 (lethal dose 50% of the time for caffeine) in humans is 50mg/kg. The average dose required for caffeine intoxication (heart palpitations, etc.) is 200mg. (I haven't been able to get through to the web site recently, so it may be down).
If that's accurate, you have to drink a lethal dose of coffee to protect yourself from lethal levels of radiation. Great...
There seems to be a bit of confusion with regards to the types of radiation that exist, and where they come from
types of radiation:
1) Ionizing
2) Non-ionizing
3) Particle
4) Electromagnetic
Ionizing radiation causes the loss or gain of electrons, creating a particle (like one of the carbons or oxygens in your body) which has an unpaired electron (called a free radical) this causes rapid chemical reactions which can damage cells. These types of radiation are KNOWN TO BE BAD FOR YOU.
Ionizing radiation examples are: X rays, Gamma Rays, Alpha particle, Beta particles, and possibly Ultra Violet light.
Non-ionizing radiation does not cause unpaired electrons. Examples of non-ionizing radiation are:
Visible light, infra-red light, microwaves, and other radio waves.
Various of these types of radiation are known to be bad for you (don't stick your head in the microwave) but the mechanisms, dosage effects and chronic vs. acute exposure effects are not well known. They often cause problems because of molecular resonance, which causes heating of molecules (ie. cooking food). But there may be other effects which are not well studied.
Particle vs. Electromag: Beta particles are high energy electrons, they are ionizing radiation, can be blocked by a few millimeters of glass/plastic/metal and are not an issue from computer monitors (get a geiger counter and check it if you want).
Alpha particles are helium nuclei without any electrons. They can be found streaming around inside most smoke detectors. They are VERY bad for you, but they travel only a few centimeters through air, and can be blocked by paper or plastic or clothing. They are a big problem if you get them inside of you (ie. swallow an alpha source).
neutrons are a problem for those who are exposed, but most people aren't. so don't worry about them.
Everything else is electromagnetic (transferred by massless photons) and most of the "radiation" from computer monitors that people worry about is the MAGNETIC fields of very low frequency (ie 60Hz). There's nothing much you can do to shield yourself from these, though monitors with built in circuits can try to cancel out the fields.
This study does not deal with Ultra Low Frequency magnetic radiation, but rather with Gamma Rays, which are an extremely high frequency ionizing electro-magnetic radiation above the frequency of X-Rays. You'd expect any anti-oxidant chemical to potentially help vs. ionizing radiation and perhaps caffeine has some anti-oxidant properties?? I dunno
Disclaimer: I am not a health Physicist, just a guy who has a lot of info shoved into his head.
((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) http://www.endpointcomputing.com a scientific approach to custom computing.
1) Makes you totally irritable, annoying, on edge, and generally unpleasant. (So sue me for having a serious one. Get a life, people. It's just a TV show).
2) Gives you the magic power to type at 800 WPM in a language that not even you can understand later.
3) Makes the MicroMachines guy make perfect sense.
4) Makes your boss make perfect sense. Okay, not really.
5) Makes you think you're a good driver. Ha. See "Phones, Cell".
6) Gives you a reason to take insomnia pills at night. Makes you watch such quality 2 AM TV shows as TJ Hooker after the insomnia pills fail miserably.
7) The Gremlin on the wing is not real. The Gremlin on the wing is not real. The Gremlin on the wing is not real.
Looking back over this one, I become aware that a distinct William Shatner theme pervades this Top X list. The truly sad thing is that it wasn't intentional. I'm truly sorry, and I swear it'll never happen again.
-