Health threat from cosmic rays radiation resulting from particle interactions within the vitreous humor. This phenomenon has been replicated on Earth by scientists at various institutions. As the duration of the longest Apollo flights was less than two weeks, the astronauts had limited cumulative exposures and a corresponding low risk for radiation carcinogenesis. In addition, there were only 24 such astronauts, making statistical analysis of any potential health effects problematic. In the above discussion dose equivalents is units of Sievert (Sv) are noted, however the Sv is a unit for comparing cancer risks for different types of ionizing radiation. For CNS effects absorbed doses in
Ionizing radiation beyond 5 MeV. The accompanying interaction diagram shows two Compton scatterings happening sequentially. In every scattering event, the gamma ray transfers energy to an electron, and it continues on its path in a different direction and with reduced energy. The lowest ionization energy of any element is 3.89 eV, for caesium. However, US Federal Communications Commission material defines ionizing radiation as that with a photon energy greater than 10 eV (equivalent to a far ultraviolet wavelength of 124 nanometers). Roughly, this corresponds to both the first ionization energy of oxygen, and the ionization energy of hydrogen, both about 14 eV.