The Most Common Carcinogens To Know & Avoid

Radiation From Medical Imaging Tests

Radiation from certain medical imaging tests has proven in multiple studies to be a known carcinogen. The type of radiation used in x-rays, nuclear imaging, and CT scans is referred to as ionizing radiation. The highest concentrations of ionizing radiation are used in nuclear imaging. In nuclear imaging, a contrast agent is used to highlight the soft tissues in a patient's body on the CT scan or x-ray images so the provider can see the function and structure of the soft tissues. The radioactive substance used as a radioactive tracer may be elements such as technetium, gallium, xenon, thallium, and iodine. The tissues in the body being studied absorb the element and give off radiation, which is detected by a special part of the machine called a gamma camera. After frequent scans over a long time, the radiation absorbed by the cells of the tissues and organs being scanned can cause alterations in the DNA of the cells. DNA mutations can set off the process of carcinogenesis, which causes cancer to develop in the tissues exposed to these radioactive substances repeatedly.

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