[Health disorders caused by radiation].

The rapid development and distribution of radiation sources has given rise to an "Energy Pollution" paralleling the chemical contamination of the environment. It has become necessary to establish limits for the "non-ionizing radiation" as well as for the ionizing radiation to which attention has been given for a long time. The non-ionizing radiation now includes the non-ionizing electromagnetic waves - radio frequency, micro waves, optical radiation - and ultrasound. Specific effects of these different radiation qualities caused by variation in biochemical and biophysical characteristics of tissues as well as the related biological changes and the mechanism of radiation effects are discussed shortly. Some commonly occurring radiation sources are quoted.