Radiation Basics 8

Radioactivity in the Human Body

            Radioactivity is definitely a threat to our health. It has been said that there is no safe minimum dose of radiation but we seem to survive in a natural environment with many different sources of radiation both outside and inside our bodies. On the average, there are over 800 radioactive events in the human body every second. Here is a list of the radioactive isotopes in our bodies.

(There are 28.3 grams in one ounce, one thousand milligrams in a gram, on million micrograms in a gram, one billion nanograms in a gram, one trillion picograms in a gram, and one quadrillion femto grams in a gram, and one thousand grams in a kilogram)

Potassium-40 - 16.5 milligrams - 4,340 disintegrations per second

Carbon-14  - 16 nanograms - 3080 disintegrations per second

Rubidium-87 - 190 milligrams - 600 disintegrations per second

Lead-210 - 5400 picograms - 15 disintegrations per second

Helium-3 - 20 femtograms - 7 disintegrations per second

Uranium-238 - 100 micrograms - 3-5 disintegrations per second

Radium-228 - 46 femtograms - 5 disintegrations per second

Radium-226 36 micrograms - 3 disintegrations per second

            The uranium, potassium and rubidium in our bodies were created in stellar explosions before the Earth was formed. The lead and radium isotopes were created by thorium and uranium decay. Helium-3 and Carbon-14 are being continuously created by cosmic rays bombarding the atmosphere of the Earth.

            Potassium-40 is present in all the food that we eat in tiny quantities. Potassium is abundant in our environment and plants take it up from the soil. We consume about two and one half grams of potassium every day. It is an essential part of our diet and our bodies maintain a constant level.

            Carbon-14 makes up a tiny amount of the roughly 16 kilograms of carbon in our bodies. It is constantly being created by cosmic rays interacting with nitrogen in the atmosphere. All living things breath in tiny amounts of carbon-14 as their bodies constantly replace carbon. Carbon-14 can be used to date the age of a biological material because when something dies, it stops taking in carbon-14 which decays and slowly disappears.

Radiation Basics 6

Man-made Radioactivity

            In the course of the evolution of civilization, mankind has created a number of sources of radiation which contribute to radiation exposure of people. These include substances, medical equipments, consumer devices and building materials.

            Sources of radiation that impact the average individual in industrialized countries include tobacco which contains thorium and uranium, televisions which emit x-rays, medical X-rays, smoke detectors which contain americium, and lantern mantles which contain thorium.

            Modern medicine utilizes a large variety of radioactive isotopes which include: bismuth-213, cesium-137, carbon-11, chromium-51, cobalt-57, cobalt-60, copper-64,  dysprosium-165, erbium-169, fluorine-18, gallium-67, gold-198, holmium-166, indium-111, iodine-123, iodine-125, iridium-192, iron-59, krypton-81, lutetium-177, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15, palladium-103, phosphorus-32, potassium-42, rhenium-188, rubidium-82, samarium-153, selenium-75, sodium-24, strontium-89, strontium-92, technetium-99, thallium-201, xenon-133 (5 d), ytterbium-169, and yttrium-90. These isotopes, with the exception of cesium, have half lives for seconds to days. They are used for diagnosis of many conditions, imaging of different parts of the body and treatment of a variety of disease.

            Most building materials from natural sources contain small quantities of radium 226, uranium 238 and Thorium 232 as well as radionuclides which are the result of decay of these isotopes. Radon 22 and radon 220 are gases which are injected into the interior air of builds from the decay in the building materials.

            Recycled industrial by-products contain radioactive isotopes which have been concentrated above normal background levels in industrial processes. These include coal ash from the burning of coal which is an additive in cement, coal slag is used in floors as an insulating fill, phosphogypsum which is a by-product of the production of phosphorous fertilizers and red mud which is a waste product in aluminum manufacture used in bricks, ceramics and tiles.

            Some professions expose workers to radioactivity. Workers who mine uranium and process uranium are exposed to the natural radioactivity of uranium. Nuclear power plant workers and power plant inspectors can be exposed to uranium 235 and plutonium. Nuclear medicine technician can be exposed to any of the radioisotopes mentioned in the paragraph above on nuclear medicine. Radiography and X-ray technicians are exposed to x-rays.

Radiation Basics 6

Man-made Radioactivity

            In the course of the evolution of civilization, mankind has created a number of sources of radiation which contribute to radiation exposure of people. These include substances, medical equipments, consumer devices and building materials.

            Sources of radiation that impact the average individual in industrialized countries include tobacco which contains thorium and uranium, televisions which emit x-rays, medical X-rays, smoke detectors which contain americium, and lantern mantles which contain thorium.

            Modern medicine utilizes a large variety of radioactive isotopes which include: bismuth-213, cesium-137, carbon-11, chromium-51, cobalt-57, cobalt-60, copper-64,  dysprosium-165, erbium-169, fluorine-18, gallium-67, gold-198, holmium-166, indium-111, iodine-123, iodine-125, iridium-192, iron-59, krypton-81, lutetium-177, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15, palladium-103, phosphorus-32, potassium-42, rhenium-188, rubidium-82, samarium-153, selenium-75, sodium-24, strontium-89, strontium-92, technetium-99, thallium-201, xenon-133 (5 d), ytterbium-169, and yttrium-90. These isotopes, with the exception of cesium, have half lives for seconds to days. They are used for diagnosis of many conditions, imaging of different parts of the body and treatment of a variety of disease.

            Most building materials from natural sources contain small quantities of radium 226, uranium 238 and Thorium 232 as well as radionuclides which are the result of decay of these isotopes. Radon 22 and radon 220 are gases which are injected into the interior air of builds from the decay in the building materials.

            Recycled industrial by-products contain radioactive isotopes which have been concentrated above normal background levels in industrial processes. These include coal ash from the burning of coal which is an additive in cement, coal slag is used in floors as an insulating fill, phosphogypsum which is a by-product of the production of phosphorous fertilizers and red mud which is a waste product in aluminum manufacture used in bricks, ceramics and tiles.

            Some professions expose workers to radioactivity. Workers who mine uranium and process uranium are exposed to the natural radioactivity of uranium. Nuclear power plant workers and power plant inspectors can be exposed to uranium 235 and plutonium. Nuclear medicine technician can be exposed to any of the radioisotopes mentioned in the paragraph above on nuclear medicine. Radiography and X-ray technicians are exposed to x-rays.

Radiation Basics - 5: Natural Radioactivity

            Natural radioactivity is present in the air, water and soil around us. Some of the radioactive isotopes were created in with the universe. Others are generated by radioactive decay of other elements. Cosmic ray from space create still others by interacting with terrestrial elements. The half-lives of these naturally occurring radionuclides vary from days to billions of years.

Radiation Basics 4

Measuring Radioactivity

            There are a several different units of measurement for radiation emitted and absorbed from radioactive materials. Exposure is measured in terms of a particular amount of radiation per a particular duration of time.

Radiation Basics 3

Sources

            Radiation comes from many sources, natural and artificial. There are over 60 naturally occurring radioactive elements. In addition, there are many sources of radiation created by the human race for a variety of purposes.

Radiation Basics 2

Radioactivity

           Radioactive decay occurs when an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom looses energy by emitting ionizing particles. There are many different types of radioactive decay. The result of decay is either that the nucleus enters a different state or that the number of nucleons (protons and/or neutrons) in the nucleus changes. The first types of decay processes that were discovered were alpha decay, beta decay and gamma decay.

Radiation Basics 1

            People have been trying to figure out what the basic stuff of the material world is for thousands of years. An ancient Greek named Democritus said around 460 BC that there were tiny indivisible things he called atoms that made up all material objects. After that there were a lot of other ideas proposed that were not as advanced.

Welcome to Nucleotidings

Welcome to Nucleotidings. This is a blog about radiation. Radiation is a general term with different meanings. This is a blog about dangerous radiation in our environment. There are different types of dangerous radiation and there are multiple sources. I will be most concerned with radioactive emissions from man-made sources.

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