Originally Posted by
Guy Betsy
Oh never mind the polar flights - you're already exposed to more radiation when you're in the same room for 5 mins when the microwave oven is on.
For each transatlantic flight alone, (per sector), your body goes through the same amount of stress as though you're smoked 14 packs of cigarette. I'm talking about stress.
First of all, microwave ovens don't produce ionizing radiation. I presume the original poster was asking about ionizing radiation, like X rays, which can break chemical bonds.
Second of all, I don't know what to make of statements like "same stress as 14 packs of cigarettes." Cigarettes deliver nicotine, tars, and particulates (some with trace radioactivity) to your lungs, which then stay there for extended periods. How can you compare that with a few hours at high cabin altitude and low humidity, and very slightly increased radiation? And why not 13 packs, or 15 packs?
But for the original poster, there was a very informative and accurate article on this some years ago in the New York Times. I made a PDF of it:
http://xray1.physics.sunysb.edu/~jac..._12jun2001.pdf
For perspective, there are various ways people differ in the radiation dose they receive: by living at high altitude, by living in regions with lots of granite, by living in regions with more radon gas from the natural soil seeping into their house... But flight crews flying repeated near-polar flights (like New York to Tokyo) can easily get a dose double or triple the background dose received by people on the ground.