How it Kills: Radiation Poisoning

The effects of a dirty bomb--and some remedies that counter them

Even if you survive the blast, you're still at risk of radiation poisoning

When a dirty bomb explodes, one or more radioactive elements scatter throughout the environment.

Each element releases a different form of radiation: alpha or beta particles (which are inhaled or ingested) or gamma rays (waves of energy that penetrate your entire body). Beta radiation can also harm the skin but is unable to penetrate deeply, so it causes little damage
to underlying organs.

When inhaled, alpha and beta particles become trapped on the lining of your throat and lungs, exposing the surrounding tissue to radiation. Ingested materials lodge throughout your digestive system, while gamma rays zap all that lies in their path.

Once inside the body, the radiation takes control on a cellular level, changing the makeup of atoms by stripping away their electrons. This alteration causes mutations to your DNA. The damaged cells begin to grow and divide uncontrollably.

Repair mechanisms within the cells try to find and fix the wounded DNA, but the job is too big, so the bad cells continue to divide. There's a word for uncontrollable cell division: cancer. When sperm meets egg, this bad DNA can be passed to the next generation.




Experts agree that radioactive iodine and cesium, commonly used in cancer therapy and industrial radiography, are the most likely ingredients of a dirty bomb. How to minimize the damage? Start by wearing a mask--the thicker, the better. Then pop these chemical cures.

POTASSIUM IODIDE The thyroid is the only organ that collects iodine, so strike first. "Each thyroid cell is a parking lot with a specific number of spaces," explains Andrew Karam, Ph.D., a founding member of the Health Physics Society's Homeland Security Committee who, while in the navy's nuclear-power program, was contaminated 30 times. "If you put stable iodine in there first, you block the radioactive stuff." Potassium iodide is available online at Take up to 130 milligrams (mg) as soon as you can after the blast.

PRUSSIAN BLUE Cesium likes to attack blood cells. Don't let it. This iron compound binds to the radioactive particles and escorts them out of the body through urine. (The urine turns blue, which would be cool under different circumstances.) Take 1 to 2 mg twice a day for up to 3 weeks after exposure, says Karam. --DAVID SCHIPPER

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