Table of Contents
Uses of Radioisotopes
What are Radioisotopes?
In order to change into a more stable form, unstable forms of an element called radioisotopes release radiation.
Radiation can alter the material it strikes upon and is easily traced. Because of these qualities, radioisotopes are beneficial in manufacturing, medicine, and other fields. While many radioisotopes are found in nature, a large number are created intentionally in research reactors and accelerators.
Radioisotopes in Medicine
Radioisotopes are an essential part of medicine and have been routinely used for this purpose for decades in procedures such as X-rays, CT scans, and cancer treatment!
Some isotopes used in nuclear medicine have short half-lives, which means they decay quickly and are suitable for diagnostic purposes (e.g. radioactive tracers and X-rays). Others with longer half-lives take longer to decay and are therefore better suited for therapeutic purposes (cancer treatment).
Like visible light, X-rays are a kind of electromagnetic radiation. But X-rays are more energetic and can penetrate through most materials, including the human body. Shadows cast by internal body objects will appear in an image created if X-rays enter the body and land in an X-ray detector. To create photographs of the tissues and structures inside the body, medical X-rays are utilized.
Generally, the amount of radiation you’re exposed to during an X-ray is the equivalent of between a few days and a few years of exposure to natural background radiation from the environment.
A different type of radiation therapy works against cancers. At high doses, radiation therapy kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA. Cancer cells whose DNA is damaged beyond repair stop dividing or die.
Radioisotopes are also important for sterilising medical equipment!
Radioisotopes in Industry
Carbon Dating
The element carbon is present in all organic materials on Earth. The process of carbon dating involves calculating how much carbon is present in each of these substances. This is possible because Carbon-14, a radioisotope of carbon, decays by half every 5,730 years. Therefore, we may determine the age of the material by analysing the ratio of carbon-14 that remains in it compared to the more common (and non-radioactive) carbon-12. This might be anything, even human bones or rocks and trees!
Inspection
A variety of industries employ radioactive elements to check the quality of their welds and metal components. This can include everything from inspecting luggage at airports to assessing the structural integrity of jet engine turbines in airplanes! This uses gamma radiation instead of x-rays but functions similarly to them. A little pellet of material enclosed in a sealed capsule is all that is required to produce gamma rays, as opposed to the large machine required to make X-rays.
Since gamma radiography is a non-destructive testing method, it is an essential tool in many different sectors. This method was also utilised to assess the structural integrity of important structures, such as hospitals and schools, in the wake of the terrible 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
Examples of Radioisotopes
Smoke Detectors
Americium-241
Emergency Lighting
Tritium (hydrogen-3)
Agriculture
Cobalt-60
Bethan Fox
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – Radioisotopes – Radioisotopes | IAEA
ANSTO – What are Radioisotopes? – Radioisotopes | What are Radioisotopes? | ANSTO
World Nuclear Association – Radioisotopes in Medicine – Radioisotopes in Medicine | Nuclear Medicine – World Nuclear Association (world-nuclear.org)
World Nuclear Association – Radioisotopes in Industry – Radioisotopes in Industry | Industrial Uses of Radioisotopes – World Nuclear Association (world-nuclear.org)
National Geographic – How radiocarbon dating helps archaeologists date objects and sites, with carbon-14 (nationalgeographic.com)
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering – X-rays (nih.gov)
National Cancer Institute – Radiation Therapy to Treat Cancer – Radiation Therapy for Cancer – NCI
United States Environmental Protection Agency – Tritium in Exit Signs | US EPA
