I need a couple of quality sources with information on how much radiation average people are exposed to as they go about their everyday lives. Some info about how much this everyday radiation harms people would be helpful too.

If anyone here has done research on anything having to do with radiation, I would appreciate your feedback over the next couple weeks as I'm doing a research project on the effects of radiation on humans and I don't have much working knowledge about the subject. Thanks!

Here's a start Sarah.Radiation facts

From the US Centers for Disease Control
(PDF)

To help people interpret these radiation doses, it may be helpful to compare them with other radiation doses people typically receive in daily life. Each year, the average American receives an effective dose of about 300 millirem from background radiation. This radiation is from naturally occurring sources, such as the sun, air, soil, and radon gas. Manmade sources, such as medical x rays add about 60 millirem per year to the average person's does

Residents of Aberdeen, Scotland, are so exposed to natural radiation that if a man were leaning against the walls of the main post office he would be receiving many times the maximum legal dose of radiation for someone working in a nuclear power station. So far as we are aware even the most indolent Aberdonian has no markedly greater propensity to cancer or any form of radiation sickness than the rest of us

The reason for all this is that Aberdeen is rightly known as the Granite City . It stands on granite and the principal old buildings are made of the stuff.

if you live along the coast near a major sea port you will be subject to LOADS of microwave radiation. Each ship that transits through has atleast 1 VERY powerful radar.

if you live near a cell phone tower you will be exposed to some microwave radiation as well.

I wouldn't trust the average radiation figured very much, I can see the range of radiation people are exposed to, to be very large, it would depend in the area you live in.

Ogi

Thanks guys! That info helps a lot.

methos... from what source did you get the info that each person receives about 300 millirems per year?

Ogi... from what source did you get the info that phone towers and ships put off microwave radiation?

I'm not trying to be nit-picky about sources, but your info is good and I need a credible source to cite in my research paper. Thanks!