Radium and radon are significant contributors to environmental radioactivity, contributing to cancer and contributing to approximately 2% of all cancer-related deaths in Europe. Radon, which decays from uranium and thorium, naturally occurs in small quantities and can become hazardous to life if radiation levels exceed 20-50 mSv/year. Moreover, human activities can release radioactive elements into the environment. For instance, improperly disposing of objects coated in radioluminescent paint can contribute to this issue.
What Do You Understand About Radon?
Radium breakdown creates radon, a radioactive gas. It is a component within the decaying series, which begins with uranium and goes through numerous elements until reaching the stable element lead. Radon decays into alpha particles and polonium.The half-life of radon-222 is 3.8 days.
- Finding Radon
In 1899, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radon for the first time as a gas resulting from the disintegration of radium. In parallel, scientist Ernst Rutherford’s tests revealed that thorium releases a radioactive gas. German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn in 1900 at Halle made the formal discovery of it.
- Effect on Well-Being
Its discovery has led to the finding that it produces a risk to human health. It has a high correlation with lung cancer cases. Individuals exposed to radon breathe it in. The local geology, which includes the amount of uranium or thorium in the soil, affects the amount of radon. Radon can increase the quantity of radioactive material in the body because it decays into polonium, an additional radioactive element, when ingested. This causes malignant cells to proliferate. Although radon may contribute to cancer, it has also been utilized as a cancer treatment. The 20th century saw the destruction of tumours and malignant cells via injection of radon gas. Despite its short half-life, radon is prevalent enough to contribute significantly to Earth’s background radiation.
- Effects on Earth’s History of Life
The mutation-causing properties of the radioactive gas have led to the suggestion that it may have been a significant factor in evolution. Higher radon concentrations in the local rock may have caused more microbial, plant, and animal species to undergo mutations, which in turn may have accelerated population evolution in those areas.
Radium: What is it?
One metal in the uranium-led decay chain is radium. It happens to be very radioactive. In 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie made the initial discovery of it in uranium ore. The element’s ability to glow allowed them to identify it. Marie Curie and colleagues created the metal in its pure form in 1911. The Latin term for “ray,” which denotes the element’s radioactivity, is whence its name originates.
Radium’s characteristic
The metal radium is soft and silvery. Because of its radioactivity, in its pure form, it may glow in the dark. With an abundance of one part per trillion, it ranks as the 84th most prevalent element on the crust of the Earth. In addition, it is the heaviest of the alkaline Earth metals, and it can form uncommon molecules by actively combining with nonmetals such as oxygen and nitrogen, resulting in a variety of unique chemical compounds. Radium-226 is the radium isotope with the longest half-life, lasting around 1600 years.
Applications for Radium
- Paints that glow in the dark made with radium.
- It was used on watches that were supposed to be visible in the dark.
- It is still used in toothpaste.
- This predates the discovery that it is very radioactive. Treatment for prostate cancer has progressed to bone tissue occasionally involving the use of Radium.
- This is because bones include calcium and Radium and calcium have similarities.
- Health Hazards
The fact that Marie Curie’s notebooks, which she used to analyze Radium, remain too radioactive to handle safely.Serves as evidence of the element’s level of radioactivity. Radium can
- therefore readily raise the risk of cancer,
- blood issues like anaemia,
- vision issues like cataracts and
- dental issues.
- Workers are most likely to be exposed to Radium like miners, especially those who mine uranium.
- Air near fossil fuel-using enterprises and water from wells both have greater levels of Radium.
Radium and radon have similarities.
They are both eventually byproducts of uranium’s decay to lead and are both radioactive. Although they have both been used to cure cancer, they are also known to cause cancer. Because of their relative abundance in the crust, radon and radium radiation also expose life on the Earth to continuous, non-toxic amounts.
Differences: Radon and Radium
Nature contains two highly radioactive gases: radon and radium.
- Radon is a colourless, odorless, and tasteless gas with the chemical symbol Rn and atomic number 86, and is a member of the noble gas group.
- It has a half-life of only 3.8 days and can form unstable and short-lived compounds with other elements.
- On the other hand, Radium is a silvery-white metal with the chemical symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is found in nature due to the decay of uranium and thorium.
- The decay of uranium and thorium in the Earth’s crust produces radon, which can seep into homes and buildings through cracks and openings.
- Radium, on the other hand, is primarily harmful when ingested or inhaled and can accumulate in bones over time.
- Medical treatments and consumer products like luminous watches and clocks once used it, but people have largely discontinued its use due to its radioactive and toxic nature.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are several distinctions between radium and radon even though both are extremely radioactive substances that can be quite harmful to one’s health. To learn more visit dsm radon. Both radon and radium exist naturally through the Earth’s crust and are found in rocks, soil, and water. However, exposure to such elements must restricted to reduce the risk of health impacts..