Does Sitting in an Aisle Seat Really Make a Difference with the Amount of Radiation you Encounter on a Plane?
It just doesn't seem like it would make that much of a difference from a window seat. My roommate tells me this is not the case, and she always takes the aisle. But I'm a definite window person. Am I really getting more radiation in me from this small choice? In the it's-finals-week-and-I-need-to-procrastinate fashion, I have tried to find the answer using google, but my conflict hasn't been solved. I have found some interesting information though. For instance, the Health Physics Society has a list of "Ask the Experts" FAQs on the subject of Aircraft Radiation Exposure, and this article on Aircrew Radiation Exposure-An Overview gives a nice detailed report of the problem and how much radiation common flights give you (New York NY - Chicago IL is 8.42 microseiverts, while New York NY - Tokyo JP is 67.1 microsieverts). At least it's not that big of a deal to worry about, as long as you're not in the air for tremendous amounts of time: The risk is more significant for airline personnel, who were actually reclassified by the FAA as radiation workers in 1996. For the average flyer, radiation exposure is both minimal and unpreventable, says CIO Magazine. The amount of radiation a person receives depends on the alititude during the flight. But does it depend on where a particilar individual may be seated? Anyone know?