Radiation Health & SafetyQuestion 9 of 100
Radiation damage to a patient's reproductive cells that could be passed to future offspring is classified as which type of effect?
a.Genetic effect
b.Somatic effect
c.Acute effect
d.Thermal effect
Explanation
Genetic effects involve damage to reproductive (germ) cells and may be transmitted to the individual's descendants. Somatic effects occur in all other body cells and affect only the exposed person, not future generations. Acute describes the timing of a response rather than the cell type, and radiation injury is ionizing rather than thermal in nature.
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