The plane is one of the most convenient and safe means of transport that can take us from point A to point B much faster than the same car or train would have done.. However, some are worried about exposure, which can be exposed during flight.. Are these concerns justified? Parse the experience of a man who has flown 18 million miles.

In April of this year, business traveler Tom Stuker became the most frequently flying passenger in the world, having flown 18 million miles (almost 29 million kilometers) in the last 14 years.. This is a huge amount of time in the air..

He may have eaten about 6,500 dishes on board, watched thousands of films and visited the restroom on a plane more than 10,000 times.. He also accumulated a radiation dose equivalent to about 1000 chest radiographs.. But what is the health risk of such a dose?.

You may think that the radiation dose of frequent flyer comes from airport checkpoints, full-body scanners and hand-held X-ray machines.. But you are mistaken. The main source of radiation exposure from air travel is the flight itself.. At high altitude the air becomes thinner.. The higher you fly from the surface of the Earth, the less gas molecules are contained in space.. Thus, a smaller number of molecules means less atmospheric protection, and therefore, makes it possible to be exposed to radiation from space..

Astronauts who travel outside the Earth’s atmosphere receive the highest doses of radiation. In fact, the accumulation of radiation dose is a limiting factor for the maximum length of manned space flight.. Because of their long stay in space, astronauts risk cataracts, cancer, and heart disease when they return home.. Irradiation is the main problem for the goal of Ilon Musk on the colonization of Mars. A long stay on Mars with its extremely toned atmosphere would be fatal precisely because of high doses of radiation, despite the successful colonization of the planet by Matt Damon in the film “The Martian”.

Back to the traveler. What will be the total radiation dose of the Stucker and how badly can its health suffer?.

It all depends on how much time he spent in the air.. If you take the average speed of the aircraft (550 miles per hour), then 18 million miles were completed in 32,727 hours, which is 3.7 years. The radiation dose rate at a standard height (35,000 feet) is about 0.003 millisievert per hour (a sievert is the unit of effective and equivalent doses of ionizing radiation that can be used to estimate the risk of developing cancer).

By multiplying the dose rate by the flight hours, we can see that Shtuker earned himself not only many free air tickets as a gift, but also about 100 millisievert radiation.

The primary health risk at this dose level is an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer in the future.. Studies of atomic bomb victims and patients after radiation therapy have allowed scientists to estimate the risk of developing cancer for any particular dose of radiation.. Other things being equal, if low doses have risk levels that are proportional to high doses, then the overall cancer rate is 0.005% per millisievert and is a reasonable and frequently used estimate.. Thus, Stucker's dose of 100 millisievert increased the risk of potentially fatal cancer by about 0.5%..

The question then becomes: Is this a high level of risk?.

Most people underestimate their personal risk of dying from cancer.. Although the exact number is controversial, it is fair to say that about 25% of all men end their lives precisely because of cancer. The risk of cancer of the radiation stump should be added to its basic risk, and thus it can be 25.5%. Increasing the risk of cancer of this size is too small to be measured in any scientific way, so it must remain a theoretical increase in risk..

If 200 male travelers traveled 18,000,000 miles like Stucker, we would expect only one of them to shorten their lives due to flight time.. Other 199 men would hardly have suffered..

But what about ordinary people who fly several times a year?.

If you want to know your personal risk of death from radiation, you need to evaluate all of your miles over the years.. Assuming that the values ??and parameters for speed, dose and risk indicated above for Stucker are also true for you. Dividing your total miles by 3,700,000,000 will show your approximate chances of getting cancer from your flights..

For example, you flew 370,000 miles. When dividing it will be 1/10 000 chance of developing cancer (or an increase in risk of 0.01%). Most people never fly 370,000 miles, which is about 150 flights from Los Angeles to New York.

Thus, for the average traveler, the risk is much less than 0.01%.

To make your understanding of the “problem” complete, make a list of all the benefits that you have gained from your flights (the possibility of business trips, vacation trips, family visits, etc.).. ), and then look at this 0.01% again. If you think your benefits were scant compared to the increased risk of cancer, you can stop flying.. But for many people today, flying is a necessity for life, and the meager increase in risk is worth it..

Ekaterina Romanova.

Source: The Conversation vegetarian. ru.

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