Radiation risks of medical imaging, from Harvard Women’s Health Watch
Mammograms, chest and dental x-rays, bone density tests, and other types of x-rays deliver only small amounts of radiation to the body, and so add little to future risk of cancer. In contrast, a CT scan delivers 70 times as much radiation as a chest x-ray. And since 1980, there has been a 20-fold increase in the use of CT scanning and nuclear imaging. Many experts are concerned about this extra burden of radiation.
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