Radiation Dose Comparison Chart
Radiation is a part of our world, from the natural background radiation dose we experience every day to the much higher doses involved in medical imaging, air travel, or extreme nuclear events. Understanding these differences can be surprisingly tricky, especially when the numbers span many orders of magnitude.
This interactive chart is designed to make those comparisons intuitive. By visualising dose rates from a wide range of real‑world scenarios, it helps you grasp how various activities and incidents relate to one another on a single, dynamic scale. Whether you’re curious about the radiation dose from a cross‑country flight, a CT scan, or historic nuclear accidents, this tool lets you explore the data at your own pace and uncover insights that static tables simply can’t offer.
Controls
Limits & Consequences
Reference lines
Quick Guide to using the Radiation Dose Comparison Chart
OVERVIEW – The chart consists of two sections; controls on the left and the chart on the right. Changes made in the controls affect what is displayed on the chart.
CONTROLS – The Controls section consists of three sections. The tabs at the top allow you to change input mode between ‘Event’, ‘Custom Dose’, and ‘Dose Rate x Time’. Below the tabs you will find various search and filter functions, as well as buttons to plot or clear everything. At the bottom you will find the full list of events, filtered according to your inputs.
TABS – The event tab allows you to select from a wide range of radiation related events. Use the search and filter functions to create a custom list of events to plot. If you would like to plot a dose that is not part of the events list, you can do so via the ‘Custom Dose’ tab. If you would like to calculate doses based on known dose rates and exposure durations, you can do so via the ‘Dose Rate x Time’ tab.
EVENTS LIST – Events are categorised and sorted by dose. Explore each category by clicking on a drop-down to view all events within. Click on any event to immediately plot it on the chart. You can also click on the ‘Select all’ button(s) to plot all events within a category. Conversely, you can also click on any plotted event to remove it from the chart or remove all events in a category by clicking on the ‘Clear’ button(s).
CHART – The chart plots all selected events as points or ranges according their effective dose. By default the chart is set to a logarithmic y-axis, allowing you to see events across a wide range of magnitudes. The axis can be switched to linear using the toggle in the top right to more accurately visualise the true difference between events. Similarly, labels can also be toggled on and off. The x-axis does not represent any variable, instead simply providing space to plot all events. Several horizontal reference lines run across the chart to indicate significant regulatory and physical limits.
What is Radiation & Dose?
Ionising radiation is a type of energy released by unstable atoms or high‑energy processes. It has enough power to remove electrons from atoms (ionising them) which is why it can affect living tissue and materials in ways non‑ionising radiation, like visible light or radio waves, cannot. For further details visit our Radiation page.
Dose reflects the amount of radiation deposited in matter. Dose equivalent or effective dose accounts for the biological impact on the body, measured in sieverts (Sv). For further details visit our Radiation Dose & Radiation Protection page.
Data
Below is the full data set used to create the Radiation Dose Comparison Chart. You can use it to look up specific radiation events.
| name | category | mSv | minMSv | maxMSv |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport millimeter-wave body scanner (US; ionizing dose) | Natural / Everyday | 0.0 | ||
| Airport backscatter X-ray scan (older systems) | Natural / Everyday | 0.000011 | ||
| Eat 1 banana (BED baseline) | Natural / Everyday | 0.0001 | ||
| World natural background (~1 hour, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.000274 | ||
| Sea-level cosmic background (~1 hour, rough) | Natural / Everyday | 0.0003 | ||
| US natural background (~1 hour, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.00034 | ||
| Extremity X-ray (hand/foot etc.) | Medical | 0.001 | ||
| DEXA / bone densitometry | Medical | 0.001 | ||
| Dental X-ray (typical) | Medical | 0.005 | ||
| World natural background (~1 day, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.0066 | ||
| US natural background (~1 day, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.0082 | ||
| Public external dose limit (unrestricted area, 1 hour) | Limits / Standards | 0.02 | ||
| Panoramic dental X-ray | Medical | 0.025 | ||
| Coast-to-coast round-trip flight (typical) | Natural / Everyday | 0.03 | ||
| Flight NYC -> LA (typical) | Natural / Everyday | 0.035 | ||
| US natural background (~1 week, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.058 | ||
| Round-trip New York London (< typical) | Natural / Everyday | 0.1 | ||
| Consumer products (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 0.1 | ||
| Chest X-ray (typical) | Medical | 0.1 | ||
| Fukushima committed effective dose from internal Cs for most residents (< this) | Accident / Incident | 0.1 | ||
| Cone-beam CT | Medical | 0.18 | ||
| World natural background (~1 month, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.2 | ||
| Terrestrial external radiation (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 0.21 | ||
| US natural background (~1 month, derived) | Natural / Everyday | 0.25 | ||
| Screening digital mammography | Medical | 0.28 | ||
| Natural internal ingestion dose (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 0.29 | ||
| Food + water internal dose (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 0.3 | ||
| Cosmic radiation (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 0.33 | ||
| 3D mammogram / breast tomosynthesis | Medical | 0.34 | ||
| ISS daily dose (broad comparison range) | Space | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Declared pregnancy remainder-of-term limit (US) | Limits / Standards | 0.5 | ||
| ISS dose rate (typical per day) | Space | 0.6 | ||
| Mars surface dose rate (per day) | Space | 0.65 | 0.7 | |
| Mars surface RAD measurement (Curiosity avg/day) | Space | 0.67 | ||
| Mars surface daily dose (same order as ISS comparison point) | Space | 0.7 | ||
| Apollo 13 mission dose (estimated) | Space | 0.9 | ||
| Aircrew annual dose (typical non-polar routes) | Natural / Everyday | 1.0 | ||
| Public dose limit (annual) | Limits / Standards | 1.0 | ||
| Worker training threshold (> likely annual dose) | Limits / Standards | 1.0 | ||
| Fukushima median annual external dose in 2011 (< this) | Accident / Incident | 1.0 | ||
| CT head and neck | Medical | 1.2 | ||
| Mars orbit vs ISS (2–3× ISS daily rate) | Space | 1.2 | 1.8 | |
| UK average annual radon dose | Natural / Everyday | 1.3 | ||
| Deep-space transit dose rate (per day) | Space | 1.3 | 1.8 | |
| Deep-space daily dose (~2–3× LEO) | Space | 1.3 | 1.8 | |
| Lumbar spine X-ray | Medical | 1.4 | ||
| High-altitude living extra dose (annual) | Natural / Everyday | 1.5 | ||
| Low-dose CT lung screening | Medical | 1.5 | ||
| CT brain | Medical | 1.6 | ||
| Apollo 7 mission dose | Space | 1.6 | ||
| Apollo 8 mission dose | Space | 1.6 | ||
| Cardiac CT calcium scoring | Medical | 1.7 | ||
| Apollo 11 mission dose | Space | 1.8 | ||
| Radon in homes (annual avg) | Natural / Everyday | 2.0 | ||
| Apollo 9 mission dose | Space | 2.0 | ||
| Fukushima first 4 months: most study subjects (< this) | Accident / Incident | 2.0 | ||
| World average annual natural background | Natural / Everyday | 2.4 | ||
| UK average annual dose (all sources) | Natural / Everyday | 2.7 | ||
| US average annual natural background | Natural / Everyday | 3.0 | ||
| US average medical exposure (annual) | Natural / Everyday | 3.0 | ||
| Intravenous urogram (IVU) | Medical | 3.0 | ||
| CT brain (with/without contrast) | Medical | 3.2 | ||
| Apollo 10 mission dose | Space | 4.7 | ||
| Special authorized medical-visitor dose cap | Limits / Standards | 5.0 | ||
| Non-cardiac CT angiography | Medical | 5.1 | ||
| Apollo 12 mission dose | Space | 5.77 | ||
| Aircrew annual dose (long-haul polar routes) | Natural / Everyday | 6.0 | ||
| CT colonography | Medical | 6.0 | ||
| Barium enema / lower GI X-ray | Medical | 6.0 | ||
| Upper GI study with barium | Medical | 6.0 | ||
| CT chest | Medical | 6.1 | ||
| US average annual dose (all sources) | Natural / Everyday | 6.2 | ||
| CT abdomen + pelvis | Medical | 7.7 | ||
| ISS stay (~30 days, derived) | Space | 8.0 | 17.0 | |
| Coronary CT angiography | Medical | 8.7 | ||
| CT spine | Medical | 8.8 | ||
| Apollo 14 mission dose (reported range) | Space | 9.0 | 11.4 | |
| Tokaimura rescue workers + journalists (up to) | Accident / Incident | 9.2 | ||
| CT scan (typical) | Medical | 10.0 | ||
| Highest Apollo mission dose often cited (~under 1 rad ≈10 mSv) | Space | 10.0 | ||
| Fukushima lifetime effective dose for adults (~average or less) | Accident / Incident | 10.0 | ||
| Fukushima worker max monthly external dose (Apr 2025) | Accident / Incident | 10.64 | ||
| 10 years of high-altitude extra dose (derived) | Natural / Everyday | 15.0 | ||
| Public lens dose limit (ICRP annual) | Limits / Standards | 15.0 | ||
| CT abdomen + pelvis (with/without contrast) | Medical | 15.4 | ||
| Tokaimura local residents (up to) | Accident / Incident | 16.0 | ||
| Mars surface stay (~30 days, derived) | Space | 19.5 | 21.0 | |
| Occupational dose limit (annual avg, ICRP) | Limits / Standards | 20.0 | ||
| Relocation threshold (projected) | Limits / Standards | 20.0 | ||
| NASA nuclear-technology exposure constraint (mission-year) | Limits / Standards | 20.0 | ||
| Fukushima lifetime effective dose for 1-year infants (~2× adult) | Accident / Incident | 20.0 | ||
| PET/CT whole-body protocol | Medical | 22.7 | ||
| ISS stay (~90 days, derived) | Space | 25.0 | 50.0 | |
| Deep-space transit (~30 days, derived) | Space | 39.0 | 54.0 | |
| Artemis-style lunar mission (~30 days) | Space | 40.0 | 60.0 | |
| Tokaimura other employees (up to) | Accident / Incident | 48.0 | ||
| Occupational dose limit (US annual adult limit) | Limits / Standards | 50.0 | ||
| Public skin dose limit (ICRP annual) | Limits / Standards | 50.0 | ||
| ISS mission (6 months) | Space | 50.0 | 100.0 | |
| ISS stay (~180 days) | Space | 50.0 | 100.0 | |
| 10 years long-haul polar aircrew (derived) | Natural / Everyday | 60.0 | ||
| Mars surface stay (~100 days, derived) | Space | 65.0 | 70.0 |