The two letters Bq, the SI unit symbol for the becquerel.
Bq is the SI symbol for the becquerel, the derived unit of radioactivity — one nuclear decay per second. It says how much material is decaying, not how much harm it does.
Denotes the becquerel, the SI derived unit of activity of a radionuclide.
Contexts: Mathematics
Counts decays per second and says nothing about biological effect: a becquerel of one isotope and a becquerel of another can carry very different risk, which is why dose is reported separately in sieverts.
Contexts: Mathematics
A capital Latin B — a vertical stem with two stacked bowls on its right — followed by a lower-case q, a round bowl with a straight stroke descending below the line on its right.
One counts decays; the other estimates biological harm. They are not interchangeable and differ by many orders of magnitude.