The idea that eating eel sushi could expose someone to radiation equivalent to a mammogram is a misconception that mixes two very different things: food consumption and medical imaging. To understand why this comparison doesn’t hold up, it’s important to break down what each involves and how radiation works in these contexts.
First, let’s talk about mammograms. A mammogram is a medical imaging procedure that uses low-dose X-rays to look at the breast tissue. The purpose is to detect abnormalities, such as tumors, early on. The radiation dose from a mammogram is very small, carefully controlled, and designed to minimize any risk while providing valuable diagnostic information. The amount of radiation you get from a mammogram is measured in millisieverts (mSv), a unit that quantifies the effect of ionizing radiation on the body. Typically, a mammogram exposes you to about 0.4 mSv of radiation, which is roughly equivalent to the natural background radiation you would receive over a few months just by living on Earth.
Now, what about eating eel sushi? Eel, like many other foods, contains naturally occurring elements, including trace amounts of radioactive isotopes such as potassium-40 and carbon-14. These isotopes are present in all living organisms because they are part of the natural environment. The levels of these radioactive elements in food are extremely low and pose no health risk. When you eat eel sushi, you are ingesting these tiny amounts of natural radioactivity, but the dose is minuscule compared to any medical imaging procedure.
The confusion sometimes arises because people hear about radiation in food and assume it must be dangerous or comparable to medical radiation exposure. However, the radiation from eating food is internal and comes from naturally occurring isotopes that have been part of the Earth’s ecosystem for millions of years. This internal radiation is very low and is part of the normal background radiation everyone experiences daily.
In contrast, the radiation from a mammogram is external and comes from an X-ray machine. It is a controlled burst of ionizing radiation aimed specifically at breast tissue to create an image. This type of radiation has enough energy to pass through the body and create a picture, which is why it carries a different risk profile than the tiny amounts of natural radioactivity in food.
To put it simply, eating eel sushi does not expose you to radiation anywhere near the level of a mammogram. The radiation dose from the natural isotopes in eel is so small that it is negligible and not a health concern. It’s like comparing the faint glow of a candle to the bright beam of a flashlight; both involve light, but the intensity and effects are vastly different.
Furthermore, the body handles natural radioactive isotopes in food efficiently. These isotopes are part of the normal biological processes, and the body’s metabolism and excretion systems manage them without harm. The radiation from these isotopes is spread out over time and is not concentrated in any one area, unlike the focused radiation from a mammogram.
Another point to consider is that radiation exposure is cumulative, but the doses from natural food sources are so low that they add only a tiny fraction to your overall lifetime exposure. Medical procedures like mammograms are designed to balance the small risk from radiation with the significant benefit of early cancer detection.
In summary, the claim that eating eel sushi equals the radiation from a mammogram is not accurate. They involve completely different types of radiation exposure, vastly different doses, and different biological impacts. Eating eel sushi is safe from a radiation perspective, and the natural radioactivity in food is a normal part of life on Earth, while mammograms are carefully controlled medical procedures that use a small amount of external radiation to save lives through early detection.