For equivalent dose, the unit corresponding to rads is the rem (roentgen equivalent man). If the absorbed dose is in grays then the unit for dose equivalent is sievert (Sv). Thus, 1 Sv = 100 rem. Roughly 1 rem is the average dose received in three years of exposure to natural radiation.
I read somewhere that four sieverts is enough to kill several people. Eight will raise Godzilla. Ten will make Chuck Norris’ balls fall off.
I have written extensively on the hyperbole and obfuscation in regards to ingested radionuclides. The problem is that we’ve all been fed a line of BS for 70 years and most of the country was exposed to bomb test fallout from the 50s. Between that, veteran exposure to DU dust, tritiated water and now fresh Cesium 137 in the Pacific, the government cannot acknowledge the effects of low-dose/ingested radiation. Look up the denied claims of Veterans who worked on cleaning up the Pacific test sites. The DNA damage which results from ingested radiation can cause cancer in both the subject and their offspring, not necessarily “signature cancers” either.
This is the hyperbole of both government and nuclear defenders who believe in hormesis and prosyletize dilution.
Horsehockey.