Is there a more complex process happening at the celular level that means you need the levels of radiation to be higher than a certain amount before there is any risk of cancer?
Or is it as simple as each ray of gamma radiation that penertrates the skin could give you cancer and you “role the dice” with each one?
In: Physics
At a basic level, yes, each individual photon has a chance of causing a mutation that has a chance of leading to a cancer.
I believe there is *some* evidence that very low levels of radiation actually reduce cancer rates, with the possibility that they encourage the body to mobilise a response to the damage.
This is not very well established though, and the mechanism is speculative. The evidence is based on population studies so there could be other factors involved.
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