Scientists at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research have claimed that every person on earth received the equivalent of an X-ray’s worth of radiation from the Fukushima’s meltdown. According to the team, more than 80 percent of the radiation released as a result of meltdown ended up in oceans and poles, so each human on the planet got minimal exposure of roughly 0.02 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation, which is equivalent to about “one extra X-ray each.”
Researchers say people need not panic because that amount of radiation isn’t likely to have much of an effect on humanity. Even in Japan, the average radiation dose was 0.5 millisieverts, which is close to the annual recommended limit for breathing in naturally occurring radon gas, notes New Scientists. Residents of Fukushima and neighbouring areas received a slightly higher radiation dose ranging from 1 to 5 millisieverts during the first three months of the accidents. But, researchers claim such doses to be still low – compared to a typical CT scan which delivers 15 millisieverts – and that it takes 1000 millisieverts to cause radiation sickness.
ScienceSwitch 