Everyday radiation dose problems come down to one relationship between i smoked, your body’s internal radiation, cosmic radiation (sea level), terrain elevation, lived next to a nuclear plant?, lived next to a coal-powered plant?, lived in a stone/concrete/brick house?, had a smoke detector?, used gas lantern mantles?, had your luggage x-ray scanned?, terrestrial radiation, worked as a radiation worker, mammograms, thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine, travelled, number of x-rays, ct scans: pelvis/abdomen, ct scans: chest, ct scans: head, wore porcelain crowns/ veneers/ false teeth and passed though. This calculator turns those numbers into radiation dose, with the working shown so you can check the result rather than simply trust it.
What Is the Radiation Dose Calculator?
The radiation dose calculator gives you an estimate of radiation dose based on i smoked, your body’s internal radiation, cosmic radiation (sea level), terrain elevation, lived next to a nuclear plant?, lived next to a coal-powered plant?, lived in a stone/concrete/brick house?, had a smoke detector?, used gas lantern mantles?, had your luggage x-ray scanned?, terrestrial radiation, worked as a radiation worker, mammograms, thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine, travelled, number of x-rays, ct scans: pelvis/abdomen, ct scans: chest, ct scans: head, wore porcelain crowns/ veneers/ false teeth and passed though.
It is a quick reference figure rather than a diagnosis, and it is most useful for tracking how a number moves over time rather than for interpreting a single reading.
How the Radiation Dose Estimate Is Worked Out
The calculation follows published reference relationships, so it is a reasonable approximation when the inputs are accurate. It assumes an average adult and does not account for individual variation.
If you are comparing two people, or the same person over a period of weeks, keep the method and the inputs identical. A change in the method can easily look like a change in the person.
What This Calculator Does Not Do
It does not diagnose anything, and it does not replace advice from a clinician. If a figure comes out at an extreme, or if it differs sharply from what you expect, that is a reason to speak to a professional rather than to adjust the inputs.
Nothing you type here is stored or sent anywhere. The whole calculation happens in your browser.
A Worked Example
Working through an example, with i smoked set to 10, your body’s internal radiation set to 5, cosmic radiation (sea level) set to 2, the calculator returns radiation dose of 206.44. Substitute your own figures and the same steps produce the same kind of answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to work out radiation dose?
Enter i smoked, your body’s internal radiation, cosmic radiation (sea level), terrain elevation, lived next to a nuclear plant?, lived next to a coal-powered plant?, lived in a stone/concrete/brick house?, had a smoke detector?, used gas lantern mantles?, had your luggage x-ray scanned?, terrestrial radiation, worked as a radiation worker, mammograms, thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine, travelled, number of x-rays, ct scans: pelvis/abdomen, ct scans: chest, ct scans: head, wore porcelain crowns/ veneers/ false teeth and passed though. The calculator then works through the relationship and reports radiation dose.
What does the radiation dose actually calculate?
It takes i smoked, your body’s internal radiation, cosmic radiation (sea level), terrain elevation, lived next to a nuclear plant?, lived next to a coal-powered plant?, lived in a stone/concrete/brick house?, had a smoke detector?, used gas lantern mantles?, had your luggage x-ray scanned?, terrestrial radiation, worked as a radiation worker, mammograms, thyroid ablation with radioactive iodine, travelled, number of x-rays, ct scans: pelvis/abdomen, ct scans: chest, ct scans: head, wore porcelain crowns/ veneers/ false teeth and passed though and converts them into radiation dose using the standard relationship for this problem. Each step is applied in turn, so every output is traceable back to the numbers you typed in.
How should I enter i smoked?
Use the value you actually have, in the unit shown next to the field. Enter every value in the same unit system. The calculator assumes the figures you supply are consistent, so it cannot correct a mistake that happens before the calculation starts.
Do I have to fill in every field?
Only the fields a particular result depends on. If you leave one blank, the results that need it simply show a note instead of a number, and everything else still works.
Why does a small change in one value move the answer so much?
That happens when an output depends on a ratio, because dividing by a small number magnifies any change in it. Check the units first, then check whether the value you entered is in the range the relationship was designed for.