Judith Como, Age 11, Of Staten Island, N.Y., for her question:
Why is radioactivity so dangerous?
The facts on radioactivity and what it does to the human body are hard to come by. The full story, comp1ete with detailed explanations, cannot be told for a very good reason. Even the top experts are not surf of how and why the deadly radioactive damage is done.
This is the atomic age when mankind first learned to release the stupendous energies locked with the nucleus of the atom. We atomic agers are aware, day by day, that this fury could be used to destroy both mankind and our luxurious planet. Naturally, it is necessary for us to learn all we can about the effect of radioactivity on human bodies, and top priority is given to research on this subject.
Radioactivity is the energy released from the breakdown of the atomic nucleus. Nuclear scientists have learned a great deal about the physics and chemistry that take p1ace in the dynamic operation. They have studied the effects of radioactivity upon laboratory animals and upon a few unlucky persons who accidentally came too close to it the experts can explain the kind of energy given off by a radioactive substance and some of the deadly results that may or may not happen to a person who comes within range of it. But they cannot say how it damages the human body or what causes the damage to increase and becob1e fatal. A person exposed to a fatal dose of radiation may not know it at the time. A few days later he may peel from what seems to be a sunburn. A geiger counter cannot detect the radiation in his body, and the deadly results may begin to shave themselves in subtle ways long after the exposure.
Radioactive energy pours forth in streaming rays of high speed atomic particles and piercing x rays. Some of the rays can pierce anything less than a shield of lead. The particles plow into the ce11s of human tissues and seem to see1: out the chromosomes of the nuclei. The ce11 nucleus is the headquarters from which orders are issued to carry on growth, repair and other vital life processes. Chromosomes may be shattered, preventing the production of new ce11s, or altered to produce deadly cancerous cells. Blood cells may be destroyed.
We do not know why the effects increase on and on after an exposure to a deadly dose of radioactivity. If the body cells were people, this could be compared to the infection of 20 persons which spreads at the end of three weeks to the total U.S. population.
The experts do not know why, but the destructive radiation tends to attack the fast growing, fast multiplying cells of the tissues. It is less likely to harm the bones and durable nerve ce11s. But the red and white blood. Cells often are damaged. S0me of the white cells have the job of protecting the body from virus and bacteria attacks. When they are destroyed or changed by radiation, resistance is lowered and a person may die from pneumonia or some sickness not directly related to radioactivity.