Ionizing radiation fields. Natural sources include the sun, lightning and supernova explosions. Artificial sources include nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, and x-ray tubes. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) itemized types of human exposures. The International Commission on Radiological Protection manages the International System of Radiological Protection, which sets recommended limits for dose uptake. Background radiation comes from both natural and man-made sources. The global average exposure of humans to ionizing radiation is about 3 mSv (0.3 rem) per year, 80% of which comes from nature. The remaining 20% results from exposure to man-made radiation sources, primarily
Gray (unit) Gray (unit) The gray (symbol: Gy) is a derived unit of ionizing radiation dose in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as the absorption of one joule of radiation energy per kilogram of matter. It is used as a unit of the radiation quantity absorbed dose which measures the energy deposited in a unit mass at a certain position, and of the radiation quantity kerma, which is the amount of energy that is transferred from photons to electrons per unit mass at a certain position. The corresponding cgs unit to the gray is the rad (equivalent to