Radium radiation from

Protection Against Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60 and... 

The radiation from radium can cause cancer in the lung, osteogenic sarcoma, blood dyscrasias and injury to skin. Inhalation, ingestion, skin contact or body exposure to radium and aU its salts must be avoided. 

Some of the radiation from radium is constantly being released into the environment. It is this release of radiation that causes concern about the safety of radium and all other radioactive substances. Each isotope of radium releases radiation at its own rate. One isotope, radium-224 for example, releases half of its radiation in about three and a half days whereas another isotope, radium-226, releases half of its radiation in about 1,600 years. 

If some radium is brought near the cylinder, the penetrating radiation from the radium makes the gas conduct, and the fibers move together. The penetrating radiation from... 

Barium platinocyanide, after prolonged exposure to radiation from radium compounds, becomes brown or red and loses its fluorescent properties. The only way to completely restqje the red crystals to their fluorescent state is by solution and recrystallisation,1 although gentle heating will partially restore them. This is well illustrated by the following table ... 

Radium Barium Platinocyanide.—-Since the majority of platino-cyanides fluoresce under the influence of radiations from radioactive substances, the radium salt should be self-luminous. The radium barium salt was prepared1 by dissolving radioactive barium chloride in water and boiling the solution with excess of silver platinocyanide. After filtering off insoluble silver salts the solution was allowed to crystallise in a desiccator. 

During her undergraduate studies, Willcock undertook research with Hardy on the oxidation of iodoform, initiated by radiation from radium. Of more significance, on her own she published a paper on the effects of radium on animal life — probably one of the first studies that showed the damaging effects of exposure to radioactive elements. 

Kirchmann, R., Darcheville, M. and Koch, G., Accumulation of Radium-226 from phosphate fertilizers in cultivated soils and transfer to crops. In Natural Radiation Environment III. CONF-780422 (Vol. 2) pp. 1667-1682, 1980. 

A radioactive method has also been developed for determination of catalyst levels in reactors, hoppers, and catalyst-feed lines of moving-bed units (331). The equipment consists of one or more radiation sources (radium chloride), a Geiger tube, and associated electronic instruments. The radium sources are mounted within the vessel at intervals over the range of levels to be measured, with the Geiger tube at the top. The exact amounts and locations of the radium sources are so proportioned that radiation from each source is no longer detected when covered by a 2-ft. layer of catalyst. Thus the counter receives maximum radiation when the vessel is empty and decreasing intensities as catalyst level rises. 

When electrons from a 1 Ci source of "Sr - "Y are absorbed, the bremsstrahlung hazard is approximately equal to that presented by the gamma radiation from 12 mg of radium. The average energy of the bremsstrahlung is about 300 keV. 

---