Would being repeatedly x-rayed by an x-ray machine cause your skin to blister?

[loinburger]

According to Maniac Cop 3 it would, but I'm not sure how credible of a source the movie is.

[SpencerH]

It would depend on the dose and exposure but theoretically, yes.

[KrazyHorse]

According to my wife (MSc medical physics, 7 years experience radio-oncology and radiation protection) 400-500 chest X-rays would give you a skin burn (depending on how fat you are).

[KrazyHorse]

It's much more realistic to get a skin burn from fluoroscopy. People do occasionally get skin burns from extensive fluoro imaging, especially for digital radiography.

She also adds that 200 abdomen/pelvis X-rays would do it.

[Joseph]

It would take a lot of X-rays.

Went I did the probing of the USS Long Beach CG-9 Steam Generator tubes, 3 of us where in a tent for 1 hour. One of us was doing the probing for 20 min. and then went to outer tent for 40 mins. I received 756 MR in that hour.

Today, I have no problem.

X-rays last about 1 second. I don't what the MR dose rate is.

If you enter an area that is 1 MR or more, you must wear a dose meter. 1 MR is a million of 1 Rad.

Just living on Planet Earth, you will pick up about 5 RADs per year.

Working for the US Gov, the normal rate is 500 MR per quarter, 1,000 per half year and 2,000 per year.

My total exposure for 7 to 10 years was around 3. ? RAD. I have the paper here somewhere.

[DaShi]

Working at Guantanamo will double that exposure. . .living there will triple it.

[The Mad Monk]

I had the opportunity to work with an X-ray diffractometer while at Rutgers; it was very old and everything except the data recorder was manual. We were warned not to put any body parts between the target and the the sample when it was running, as it would cause burns that would never heal. I think it was in the 50kV range.