Smartphones are under general suspicion, even nuclear power plants are often regarded as a source of dangerous radiation. Other sources are usually more dangerous to health.
Many Germans do not know that. This is at least the result of a representative survey commissioned by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), which was published on Wednesday in Berlin.
Nearly three out of four respondents (73.9 percent) said they were "very" or "more" concerned about radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants. More than one in two (51.4 percent) is concerned about radiation from cell towers, almost as many (51 percent) on cell phones and tablets.
By contrast, just under 23 percent are concerned about radon in the environment - although the rare gas is the largest source of average annual radiation exposure and the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.
Five percent of lung cancer deaths are due to radon
The current survey shows that the risks of nuclear power in the population are overestimated and the risk of radon underestimated, said BfS President Inge Paulini.
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Radon naturally forms in the ground when uranium breaks down and can enter buildings from there. The gas is colorless, not to smell or taste. Radon breaks down after inhalation in the lungs, thereby releasing radioactive radiation - as a result, the risk of cancer increases.
According to the BfS, around 5 percent of all lung cancer deaths in Germany can be attributed to radon. A threshold below which the gas is certainly safe, but so far not known. For citizens, the authority recommends airing regularly as a countermeasure and sealing leaks in the cellar and ground floor.
The level of radon varies widely in Germany - depending on how much uranium and radium are present in a region in the soil and how permeable it is. Increased is the Radongefahr about in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia and Saxony. (A map with the Radonpotenzial in Germany can be found on this page of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, but it only allows a rough assessment.)
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BfS President Paulini sees a gap in the increasing digitization in Germany: "On the one hand there is the natural handling of new technologies and on the other hand a perceived threat from the associated radiation exposure."
Every second (49.2 percent) believed in the survey that cell phone radiation can damage the genetic material. The Federal Office emphasizes that this is not correct. Even with the expansion of the networks on 5G changes to the current state of research nothing (read more here.) Almost as many respondents (48.7 percent) feel by government institutions in front of mobile devices "not at all" and "rather not "well protected.
In general, more than 35 percent said they were worried that they were "surrounded by radiation everywhere", almost one in three believes radiation exposure is too high.