The history of radiation protection begins at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, realizing that ionizing radiation from natural and artificial radiation sources can have a damaging effect on living organisms. It is thus also the story of radiation damage.
The Early Radiation Experiment
Unprotected experiments were done in the USA in 1896 with an early X-ray tube (Crookes tube). It was when the dangers of radiation were still mostly unknown.
After radioactive substances or X-rays were handled carelessly in the early days, the increasing awareness of the dangers of radiation in the 20th century led to various preventive measures worldwide. It led to corresponding regulations on radiation protection.
The first victims were the radiologists, who went down in medical history as the “martyr” ” of “biological progress. Many of them had to suffer from radiation damage mutations suffered or died of cancer.
Then, the health effects became known, their causes explored, and awareness was raised for protective measures. A radical change took place after the atomic bombs were dropped in World War II.
The consequences of natural “cosmic” radiation, “the “effects of radioactive substances such as radon and radium occurring in the environment, were also increasingly recognized and the possible damage to health from non-ionizing radiation.
The Early Stages of Radioactive Protection Effort
Protective measures have been drawn up and introduced worldwide, monitoring devices have been developed, and laws and radiation protection regulations have been passed.
In the 21st century, regulations are becoming increasingly stringent. In particular, the permissible limit values for the strength of ionizing radiation are further corrected towards lower values. The term “radioactive protection” has a broader meaning; it now also contains regulations for dealing with non-ionizing radiation.
In Europe, radiation protection regulations are drawn up and issued by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection works with.
In Switzerland, the Radiation Protection Department of the Federal Office of Public Health. Radiation Shielding company started to rise, giving a professional touch on radioactive protection.
X-Ray and Radiation Shielding
The discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845–1923) in 1895 led to extensive experiments by scientists, doctors, and inventors. The first X-ray machines produced extremely unfavorable radiation spectra with extremely high skin doses for imaging. In February 1896, John Daniel and William Lofland Dudley (1859-1914) of Vanderbilt University carried out an experiment in which Dudley’Dudley’sas x-rayed led to hair loss.
Herbert D. Hawks, a Columbia University graduate, suffered severe hand and chest burns during X-ray demonstration experiments. Burns and hair loss have been reported in professional journals.
For example, Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) was one of the first researchers in the Electrical Review on May 5, 1897, to expressly warn against the potential danger of X-rays – after initially attributing them to be harmless. He had to experience massive radiation damage on his own after his tests.
Nevertheless, at that time, some doctors still claimed that X-rays had no effects on humans at all. There were operated until the 1940s X-ray equipment without any protection.
Röntgen himself was spared the fate of other X-ray users by a habit. He carried the unexposed photographic plates around with him at all times in his pockets and found that they would be exposed if he stayed in the same room during the radiation exposure. So he regularly left the room to take x-rays.
