What type of radiation is known to cause damage to living cells?

Ionizing radiation is known to cause damage to living cells due to its ability to remove tightly bound electrons from atoms, which can lead to cellular damage. This type of radiation carries sufficient energy to ionize atoms, creating charged particles (ions) that can disrupt molecular structures within cells, including DNA.

This disruption can result in mutations, cell death, or cancerous growths, depending on the extent of the damage and the body's ability to repair it. Ionizing radiation includes forms such as X-rays, gamma rays, and certain types of high-energy particles, all of which are capable of penetrating biological tissues and causing this ionization.

In contrast, other types of radiation listed—such as visible, infrared, and non-ionizing radiation—generally lack the energy required to remove electrons from atoms. While they may pose different types of health risks (like thermal burns from infrared radiation), they do not have the same capacity to directly cause cellular damage as ionizing radiation does.