Table: Annual Radiation Exposure in the United States-MSD Manual Consumer Version

Annual Radiation Exposure in the United States

Radiation Source	Average Effective Dose (millisieverts)
Naturally occurring radiation sources
Radon gas	2.3
Other terrestrial sources	0.2
Radiation from the sun and outer space	0.3
Natural radioactive material in the body	0.3
Subtotal	3.1
Manufactured radiation sources
Diagnostic medical imaging*	3.0
Consumer products	0.1
Fallout from weapons testing	less than 0.01
Nuclear industry	less than 0.01
Subtotal	3.1
*Total annual exposure*	6.2
Other sources of radiation exposure (per incident)
Airline travel	0.001–0.014/hour of flight
Dental x-rays	0.005
Chest x-ray (back-to-front view)	0.02
Chest x-ray (two views: back-to-front and side-to-side)	0.1
Mammography	0.4
Computed tomography of the head	2
Computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, or pelvis	6-8
Barium enema	8
Nuclear medicine (for example, a bone scan)	4.2
* Average value. Most people receive much lower doses each year, from examinations such as dental x-rays and mammograms, whereas a smaller number of ill or injured people require numerous imaging tests and thus receive much larger doses.
Data from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Ionizing radiation exposure of the population of the United States. NCRP Report No. 160 National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD, 2009.

Radiation Source

Average Effective Dose (millisieverts)

Naturally occurring radiation sources

Radon gas

2.3

Other terrestrial sources

0.2

Radiation from the sun and outer space

0.3

Natural radioactive material in the body

0.3

Subtotal

3.1

Manufactured radiation sources

Diagnostic medical imaging*

3.0

Consumer products

0.1

Fallout from weapons testing

less than 0.01

Nuclear industry

less than 0.01

Subtotal

3.1

Total annual exposure

6.2

Other sources of radiation exposure (per incident)

Airline travel

0.001–0.014/hour of flight

Dental x-rays

0.005

Chest x-ray (back-to-front view)

0.02

Chest x-ray (two views: back-to-front and side-to-side)

0.1

Mammography

0.4

Computed tomography of the head

Computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, or pelvis

6-8

Barium enema

Nuclear medicine (for example, a bone scan)

4.2

* Average value. Most people receive much lower doses each year, from examinations such as dental x-rays and mammograms, whereas a smaller number of ill or injured people require numerous imaging tests and thus receive much larger doses.

Data from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Ionizing radiation exposure of the population of the United States. NCRP Report No. 160 National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD, 2009.