If the dose of radiation exceeds a certain threshold level, then it can produce acute effects, such as skin redness, hair loss, radiation burns, and acute radiation syndrome (ARS1).

Radiation sickness (or acute radiation syndrome) usually sets in after a whole-body dose of three sieverts-3,000 times the recommended public dose limit per year, Langhorst says.

Early dose estimation plays a key role in treatment of acute radiation injury.