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The rem and millirem are CGS units in widest use among the U.S. public, industry, and government. [4] However, the SI unit the sievert (Sv) is the normal unit outside the United States, and is increasingly encountered within the US in academic, scientific, and engineering environments, and have now virtually replaced the rem. [5]
The rad is a unit of absorbed radiation dose, defined as 1 rad = 0.01 Gy = 0.01 J/kg. [1] It was originally defined in CGS units in 1953 as the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by one gram of matter. The material absorbing the radiation can be human tissue, air, water, or any other substance.
The roentgen or röntgen (/ ˈ r ɛ n t ɡ ə n,-dʒ ə n, ˈ r ʌ n t-/; [2] symbol R) is a legacy unit of measurement for the exposure of X-rays and gamma rays, and is defined as the electric charge freed by such radiation in a specified volume of air divided by the mass of that air (statcoulomb per kilogram).
Although the International System of Units (SI) defines the sievert (Sv) as the unit of radiation dose equivalent, chronic radiation levels and standards are still often given in units of millirems (mrem), where 1 mrem equals 1/1,000 of a rem and 1 rem equals 0.01 Sv. Light radiation sickness begins at about 50–100 rad (0.5–1 gray (Gy), 0.5 ...
The rad (rad) is a unit of absorbed dose equal to 10 mGy. The roentgen equivalent man (rem) is a unit of equivalent dose equal to 10 mSv. The rutherford (Rd) is a unit of radioactivity defined as one million decays per second (1 MBq).
Because the rem is a relatively large unit, typical equivalent dose is measured in millirem (mrem), 10 −3 rem, or in microsievert (μSv), 10 −6 Sv. 1 mrem = 10 μSv. A unit sometimes used for low-level doses of radiation is the BRET (Background Radiation Equivalent Time).
The sievert has its origin in the röntgen equivalent man (rem) which was derived from CGS units. The International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) promoted a switch to coherent SI units in the 1970s, [78] and announced in 1976 that it planned to formulate a suitable unit for equivalent dose. [79]
It is derived from the physical quantity absorbed dose, but also takes into account the biological effectiveness of the radiation, which is dependent on the radiation type and energy. In the SI system of units, the unit of measure is the sievert (Sv).