X-ray examination of the abdominal region accounts for 25% of all radiography, but contributes over ______% of the GSD.

• A. 30
• B. 70
• C. 50
• D. 90

Answer: (B)

Genetically Significant Dose measures the potential hereditary risk to future generations and uses tissue weighting factors to reflect how important each tissue is to that risk. The abdominal region, even though it accounts for only about a quarter of radiographic exams, often delivers dose to reproductive tissues or to a fetus in pregnancy. Those tissues have the highest weighting because heritable genetic effects are a major concern and the fetus is highly radiosensitive. So the abdominal field contributes a disproportionately large share of GSD—about seventy percent—despite its smaller share of exams. The other numbers don’t match this pattern of how tissue sensitivity and exposure patterns steer the hereditary risk, making seventy percent the best fit.