Title: 
Headings: Radium-226 (226Ra)
Radium-226
 
(226Ra)
 

Fact
 
Sheet
 
320-081
 

WHO
 
DISCOVERED
 
RADIUM?
 

WHAT
 
IS
 
RADIUM-226
 
USED
 
FOR?
 

WHERE
 
DOES
 
RADIUM-226
 
COME
 
FROM
 
AND
  
WHERE
 
IS
 
IT
 
FOUND?
 

IS
 
RADIUM-226
 
HAZARDOUS?
 

PROPERTIES
 
OF
 
RADIUM-226
 
(226Ra)
 

Sources
 


Content: This
 
luminous
 
material
 
was
 
used
 
to
 
paint
 
timepieces,
 
compasses
 
and
 
other
 
devices
 
during
 
and
 
after
 
World
 
War
 
I.
  
Apalastic
 
anemia,
 
leukemia
 
and
 
bone
 
cancers
 
developed
 
in
 
workers
 
who
 
repeatedly
 
used
 
their
 
lips
 
to
 
make
 
a
 
point
 
out
 
of
 
the
 
paint
 
brush
 
bristles. Radium
 
is
 
now
 
used
 
to
 
produce
 
radon,
 
a
 
radioactive
 
gas
 
used
 
to
 
treat
 
some
 
types
 
of
 
cancer. WHERE
 
DOES
 
RADIUM-226
 
COME
 
FROM
 
AND
  
WHERE
 
IS
 
IT
 
FOUND? Radium-226
 
is
 
a
 
decay
 
product
 
of
 
the
 
natural
 
uranium-238
 
decay
 
chain
. It
 
is
 
present
 
in
 
all
 
rocks
 
and
 
soils
 
in
 
variable
 
amounts. IS
 
RADIUM-226
 
HAZARDOUS? Radium-226
 
decays
 
by
 
alpha
 
making
 
ingestion
 
and
 
inhalation
 
the
 
primary
 
pathways
 
of
 
concern. Radium-226
 
adheres
 
quickly
 
to
 
solids
 
and
 
does
 
not
 
migrate
 
far
 
from
 
its
 
place
 
of
 
release. It
 
is
 
absorbed
 
from
 
the
 
soil
 
by
 
plants
 
and
 
passed
 
up
 
the
 
food
 
chain
 
to
 
humans. Radium
 
is
 
chemically
 
similar
 
to
 
calcium
 
and,
 
when
 
ingested
 
a
 
small
 
fraction
 
is
 
transferred
 
across
 
the
 
small
 
intestine
 
and
 
most
 
is
 
deposited
 
in
 
bone,
 
which
 
contains
 
70-95%
 
of
 
the
 
total
 
ingested
 
body
 
radium.