Source: Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Historically, radium was used in medical treatments and devices and for passive illumination of aircraft gauges. Contact your state radiation control program if you find such a device. Chronic exposure to high levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver or breast cancer.
As radium decays it creates a radioactive gas, radon. Radon is common in many soils and can collect in homes and other buildings. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.
Learn more about radon. Skip to main content. Radiation Protection. Contact Us. Radionuclide Basics: Radium. On this page:. Radium in the Environment In the natural environment, radium occurs at trace levels in virtually all rock, soil, water, plants and animals.
Radium Sources Everyone has some exposure to radium because it is naturally occurring in the environment. There are several known isotopes of radium, but due to the rapid decay rates of many of the isotopes, it is uncertain about the natural abundances of the radium isotopes. The discovery came from the study of pitchblende a type of uranium ore found in Bohemia today's Czech Republic.
The uranium was removed from the ore and the remains were found to still be radioactive. The radioactive remains were then separated out and when the spectrum was studied, the material was found to be primarily barium with an unknown element.
According to Peter van der Krogt , a Dutch historian, the element was named for the Latin word "radius" or "ray" because the radiation emitted from the new element was about 3 million times greater than the radiation from uranium. The Curies were able to extract about 1 milligram of radium from nearly 10 tons of pitchblende, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Radium E, known to be bismuth, was the first synthetic radioactive element that was created synthetically by scientists at the University of California, according to Time. Radium is often used to treat various forms of cancers. They are usually caused by gamma radiation of radium, which is able to travel fairly long distances through air.
Therefore contact with radium is not necessary, for radium to cause health effects. Radium is constantly produced by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium.
Radium is present at very low levels in rocks and soil and strongly attaches to those materials. It is also found in air. High concentrations of radium exist in water on some locations. Uranium mining results in higher levels of radium in water near uranium mines.
Plants absorb radium from the soil. Animals that eat these plants will accumulate radium. Finally, radium may concentrate in fish and other aquatic organisms and bio magnify up the food chain. Back to chart periodic elements. More from 'Elements'. Toggle navigation. Home Periodic table Elements Radium. About Lenntech.
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