In addition to burns to integumentary (skin) and organ systems, certain types of radiation exposure may cause mutations (DNA damage and genetic alterations) or accelerate the types of mutations that occur spontaneously at a very low rate. Ionizing radiation was the first mutagen that efficiently and reproducibly induced mutations in a multicellular organism. Direct damage to the cell nucleus is believed to be responsible for both mutations and other radiation mediated genotoxic effects like chromosomal aberrations and lethality. Free radicals generated by irradiation of the cytoplasm are also believed to induce gene mutations even in the non-irradiated nucleus.

There are many kinds of radiations that can increase mutations. Radiation is often classified as ionizing or non-ionizing depending on whether ions are emitted in the penetrated tissues or not. X rays, gamma rays (&ggr;), beta particle radiation (), and alpha particle () radiation (also known...