This being the last blog post, I’ve decided I will be ending off with some more practical and easily applicable information about radiation and not random facts about Chernobyl and how reactors work.
Instead, I will tell you how bananas can kill you.
In case you didn’t know, bananas are HIGHLY radioactive. Eating one at just the wrong time could, and most likely will, eventually kill you…just kidding! In order for someone to die from ingesting bananas, they would have to consume approximately 100 million of them at once, which isn’t really possible. So you’re okay to eat bananas!
So, eating 100 million bananas will kill you. But why? Well, apart from your stomach exploding, gobbling up eleven-thousand miles worth of bananas contains approximately enough radiation to be lethal. Because of the natural amounts of potassium in bananas, and since potassium decays (at least the kind found in bananas), they are unusually radioactive compared to other foods. Eating one banana is equivalent to walking through an airport security scanner, as shown in the chart farther up this page. The chart measures each example in BED, which stands for Banana Equivalent Dose. Pretty cool, huh?
So, next time you go to get a CT scan, think: If only I would have just eaten ninety thousand bananas instead, I wouldn’t have to be here right now.
Big Brain Ideas 