People are often exposed to radiation in their daily life, but they are also unaware of the low doses of ionizing radiation such as medical radiation because radiation is hard to perceive. In this paper, the source, biological effects and health impacts of ionizing radiation are briefed, and the hormesis and adaptive response of low-dose radiation are discussed. This paper intends to help people to correctly understand ionizing radiation and proposes appropriate protective measures that may reduce the harmful effects of ionizing radiation in human life to some acceptable level for humans, so that radiation can benefit human beings in the fields of medicine, industry and scientific research.

ionizing radiation  /  radiophobia  /  hormesis  /  adaptive response