Radiation Oncology/Radiation Chemistry

  • Radiation chemistry is a subdivision of nuclear chemistry which is the study of the chemical effects of radiation on matter; this is very different from radiochemistry as no radioactivity needs to be present in the material which is being chemically changed by the radiation
  • An example is the conversion of water into hydrogen gas and hydrogen peroxide
  • P Wardman. Br J Radiol. 2009 Feb. The importance of radiation chemistry to radiation and free radical biology (The 2008 Silvanus Thompson Memorial Lecture) (PMID: 19168690)