Once news hit that President Trump has make it legal to dump Coal mining waste into streams and rivers, Epalab geiger counters began flying off the shelves along the west and East coast. According to Livescience , the amount of radioactive material being released from the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan, and the eventual impact it will have on human health, are still being determined. How does nuclear radiation harm the body, and what are the risks from long-term exposure to low levels after an accident? MyHealthNewsDaily spoke with experts about these questions. How does radiation harm the body? There's been some reported evidence that radioactive iodine and cesium are being released into the environment from the malfunctioning nuclear reactors in Japan, said Kathryn Higley, director of the Oregon State University department of nuclear engineering and radiation health physics. As radioactive material decays, or breaks down, the energy released into the environment