Radiation Damage to DNA

When radiation hits DNA, part of the DNA may break depending on the amount of radiation.

It is said that exposure to 1 mGy of X-rays causes a single-strand break at one location per cell on average. This amount of radiation is equivalent to 1 mSv. Double-strand breaks occur less frequently, at 0.04 locations per cell, which means that if 100 cells are evenly exposed to 1 mGy of X-rays, double-strand breaks occur in four cells.

• Included in this reference material on March 31, 2013
• Updated on March 31, 2016