Radiation can hurt either the entire body (substantial harm) or eggs and sperm (hereditary harm). Its belongings are more articulated in cells that duplicate quickly, for example, the stomach lining, hair follicles, bone marrow, and undeveloped organisms. This is the reason patients going through radiation treatment frequently feel queasy or debilitated to their stomach, lose hair, have bone hurts, etc, and why specific consideration should be taken while going through radiation treatment during pregnancy.

Various kinds of radiation have contrasting capacities to go through material. An exceptionally slim obstruction, such as a sheet or two of paper, or the top layer of skin cells, normally stops alpha particles. Along these lines, alpha molecule sources are generally not perilous if outside the body, but rather are very dangerous whenever ingested or breathed in Beta particles will go through a hand, or a slim layer of material like paper or wood, however are come by a slight layer of metal. Gamma radiation is exceptionally infiltrating and can go through a thick layer of most materials. Some high-energy gamma radiation can go through a couple of feet of cement. Certain thick, high nuclear number components (like lead) can successfully constrict gamma radiation with more slender material and are utilized for safeguarding. The capacity of different sorts of discharges to cause ionization fluctuates significantly, and a particles have practically no inclination to create ionization. Alpha particles have about two times the ionizing power of quick neutrons, multiple times that of β particles, and multiple times that of γ rays and X-rays.