Ionizing radiation radium exposures

Radium, Ra, is a radioactive metallic element. There are 14 radioactive isotopes of radium however, only radium 226, with a half-life of 1620 years, is usable. It is a brilliant, white solid that is luminescent and turns black upon exposure to air. Radiiun is water-soluble, and contact with water evolves hydrogen gas. It is in the alkaUne-earth metal family and, like calcium, it seeks the bones when it enters the body. It is highly toxic and emits ionizing radiation. Radium is destructive to living tissue. 

Examples Heatstroke, sunstroke, heat exhaustion, heat stress and other effects of environmental heat freezing, frostbite, and other effects of exposure to low temperatures decompression sickness effects of ionizing radiation (isotopes, x-rays, radium) effects of nonionizing radi-... 

Radon ( Rn) is the dominant source of human exposure to ionizing radiation in every country of the world. It is dominant in most circumstances at home and at work, for individual persons and for whole populations. The worst characteristic of radon, apart from its carcinogenicity, is its ubiquity. Before radon became a matter of concern for human exposure, it was studied and measured for many purposes. It was an inert tracer for air masses, it was a geological indicator for radium and uranium, and it was a shortlived source of y-radiation for cancer treatment. Radon plus beryllium was used as neutron source by Fermi for the discovery of neutron-induced fission reactions. 

Oil-field NORM are an environmental concern because of the potential for human exposure to ionizing radiation. The radium and radium decay products in oil-field NORM present a hazard only if taken into the body by ingestion or inhalation. The external radiation from equipment or waste containing NORM is almost never a significant concern. The discharge of radium in produced water is of concern because it may accumulate in seafood consumed by humans. Since no estabhshed safe level exists for the intake of radium, any consumption of radium in food is of potential concern. However, for the case of radium discharged in produced water, risk assessment studies show that consumption of fish caught near produced water outfalls will not pose an unacceptable human health risk, even in the worst cases. 

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