Smoking radiation compared to background radiation in high-altitude cities involves understanding two very different sources of radiation exposure: the radiation from smoking tobacco and the natural background radiation that increases with altitude.
**Background radiation** is the ionizing radiation present in the environment from natural sources such as cosmic rays from space, radioactive materials in the soil, and radon gas. At higher altitudes, the intensity of cosmic radiation increases because there is less atmospheric shielding. For example, cities located at high elevations receive more cosmic radiation than those at sea level, roughly 1.5 to 2 times greater ultraviolet and cosmic radiation exposure due to thinner atmosphere and proximity to space.
**Radiation from smoking** primarily comes from radioactive elements naturally present in tobacco leaves, such as polonium-210 and lead-210. These radioactive particles attach to tobacco leaves from the soil and air and become concentrated in the smoke inhaled by smokers. When tobacco is burned, these radioactive particles are released and inhaled deep into the lungs, exposing smokers to alpha radiation, which is highly damaging to lung tissue.
When comparing the two:
– **Background radiation at high altitudes** includes cosmic rays and terrestrial sources, typically amounting to about 30-35 millirems per year in normal conditions. This level can vary depending on altitude and local geology but is generally considered low and constant for residents.
– **Radiation dose from smoking** is more localized and concentrated in the lungs. Although the total radiation dose from smoking is difficult to quantify precisely, studies estimate that a heavy smoker can receive a lung radiation dose comparable to several chest X-rays per year, which is significantly higher than the background radiation dose to the lungs. This is because the radioactive particles in tobacco smoke deposit directly in lung tissue, causing localized damage.
In **high-altitude cities**, the background radiation dose is elevated due to increased cosmic rays, but this increase is relatively small compared to the radiation dose from smoking. The additional cosmic radiation exposure at altitude is spread over the whole body and is relatively low intensity, whereas smoking delivers a concentrated dose of alpha radiation directly to lung tissue.
Therefore, even in high-altitude cities where background radiation is higher than at sea level, **the radiation dose from smoking remains significantly higher and more harmful than the increase in background radiation**. The localized nature of radiation from smoking makes it a much greater health risk in terms of radiation exposure to lung tissue than the diffuse and lower-level cosmic radiation increase experienced at altitude.
In summary, while living at high altitude does increase your exposure to natural background radiation, this increase is modest and spread over the entire body. Smoking introduces radioactive particles directly into the lungs, delivering a much higher and more dangerous dose of radiation locally. Thus, smoking radiation far exceeds the background radiation increase found in high-altitude cities.
