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Effective dose

The dose that produces the desired effect; when followed by a subscript (generally ED50), it denotes the dose having such an effect on a certain percentage (e.g., 50%) of the test animals; ed50 is the median effective dose, in radiation protection, the sum of the equivalent doses in all tissues and organs of the body weighted for tissue effects of radiation. The unit of effective dose is the sievert (Sv), epilation dose, the minimum amount of radiation sufficient to produce hair loss, usually in 10 to 14 days.