Smoking does not directly increase the millisievert (mSv) dose—a measure of radiation exposure—to digestive organs, but it significantly contributes to increased cancer risks and damage in those organs through chemical carcinogens and toxins rather than radiation.
To clarify, the mSv dose refers specifically to the amount of ionizing radiation absorbed by tissues, commonly from medical imaging, environmental sources, or occupational exposure. Smoking itself is not a source of ionizing radiation and therefore does not raise the radiation dose to digestive organs such as the esophagus, stomach, liver, or intestines. Instead, smoking introduces numerous harmful chemicals, including carcinogens like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which cause cellular damage and increase cancer risk in these organs.
The digestive tract, especially the upper parts like the esophagus and stomach, is vulnerable to damage from smoking. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic and irritate the lining of the aerodigestive tract. This irritation and chemical exposure can lead to inflammation, cellular mutations, and eventually cancers such as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and stomach cancer. These effects are due to chemical toxicity and chronic inflammation, not radiation exposure.
For example, workers exposed to diesel exhaust and coal-tar products, which contain PAHs similar to those in tobacco smoke, have shown increased rates of esophageal cancer due to chemical irritation and damage. This illustrates how chemical exposure, rather than radiation, is the primary risk factor in these contexts.
Smoking also increases the risk of liver cancer and bile duct cancer through mechanisms involving chronic inflammation and toxic chemical exposure. While some rare inherited conditions and past exposure to radioactive substances can increase radiation dose and cancer risk in the liver, smoking itself does not contribute to radiation dose but does elevate cancer risk chemically.
In medical contexts, smokers may undergo low-dose CT scans for lung cancer screening, which involve small amounts of ionizing radiation. However, this radiation exposure is from the medical imaging procedure, not from smoking itself. The radiation dose from such scans is carefully controlled and unrelated to the chemical damage caused by tobacco.
In summary, smoking increases cancer risk and causes damage to digestive organs through chemical carcinogens and chronic inflammation, not by increasing the radiation dose measured in millisieverts. The mSv dose to digestive organs is influenced by external radiation sources, not by smoking behavior.
