INTRODUCTION

Radioactivity is a phenomenon that occurs when an unstable atom has too much energy
and it has to be released in the forms of waves or particles or both. It is a naturally occurring
substances but it can also be artificially produced . Atoms of the substance spontaneously
emit invisible but energetic radiations, which can penetrate materials that are opaque to
visible light. The effects of these radiations can be harmful to living cells but, when used in
the right way, they have a wide range of beneficial applications, particularly in medicine.
Radioactivity has been present in natural materials on the earth since its formation (for
example in potassium-40 which forms part of all our bodies). However, because its
radiations cannot be detected by any of the body’s five senses, the phenomenon was only
discovered 100 years ago when radiation detectors were developed. Nowadays we have
also found ways of creating new man made sources of radioactivity for medical applications,
power generation and food sterilization. Radiation emitted through the process of
radioactivity can cure and kill lives. It is the responsibilities of everyone to properly and
effectively utilize it.

HISTORY TIMELINE OF RADIOACTIVITY

1895 ---- Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen discovers x-rays.

1896 ---- Antoine-Henri Becquerel discovers rays produced by uranium, the first
observation of natural radioactivity. Concerns first raised about possible injuries from
x-ray exposures. Elihu Thomson conducts experiments on x-ray burns.

1898 ---- Marie and Pierre Curie discover that thorium gives off "uranium rays," which
Marie renames "radioactivity." Marie and Pierre Curie discover polonium and announce
the existence of another new radioactive element they name radium.

1899 ---- First malpractice lawsuit is awarded for x-ray burns. Ernst Rutherford
discovers that radioactivity from uranium has at least two different forms, which he calls
alpha and beta rays. Fritz Geisel, Antoine-Henri Becquerel, and Marie Curie prove that
beta rays consist of high-speed electrons.

1899 ---- Ernst Rutherford discovers that radioactivity from uranium has at least two
different forms, which he calls alpha and beta rays.

1900 ---- Rutherford discovers the principle of half-life and sets forth his laws on
radioactive decay.

1900 ---- Paul Ulrich Villard is the first to observe that gamma radiation is more
penetrating than x-rays.
1901 ---- Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen wins the Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of
x-rays. X-rays are shown to be lethal to mammals through experiments conducted by
W.H. Rollins.

1903 ---- Antoine-Henri Becquerel and, Pierre and Marie Curie share the Nobel Prize for
physics, Becquerel for his discovery of natural radioactivity, and the Curies for their
study of radioactivity. First observation notes that radioactivity can induce tissue and
organ damage. George Perthes discovers that x-rays can inhibit the growth of tumors
and proposes the use of x-rays in the treatment of cancer.

1906 ---- Two French scientists, Bergonie and Tribondeau, theorized and observed that
radiosensitivity was a function of the metabolic state of the tissue being

irradiated. This has come to be known as the law of Bergonie and Tribondeau.

1911 ---- First reports linking x-rays to leukemia and cancer in physicians is published.
Arthritis patient dies from Radium-226 injections.

1912 ---- Hundreds of young women working in plants in New York and Illinois are
accidentally exposed to a luminous paint containing radium while painting dials for
watches and clocks.

1913 ---- Hans Geiger unveils his radiation detector.

1915 ---- British Roentgen Society proposes standards for radiation protection of
workers.

1920 ---- First x-ray protection committee is formed by the American Roentgen Ray
Society.

1922 ---- Film badges first developed to measure exposures to radiation. Amelia Maggia
is first of the "Radium Dial Painters" to die from radiation poisoning.

1924 ---- First radiation tolerance dose proposed by Arthur Mutscheller for use as a
guide to limiting exposure of an individual to radiation.

1927 ---- H.J. Muller shows that mutations can be induced in Drosophila melanogaster
by low levels of x-rays.

1930 ---- Charles Lauritsen develops high-voltage x-ray machine for radiation therapy.

1938 ---- Otto Hahn is the first to split the atom of uranium, opening up the possibility of
a chain reaction (nuclear fission).

1941 ---- Glenn Seaborg discovers plutonium.

1942 ---- The Manhattan Project is formed to secretly build the atomic bomb; Los
Alamos, New Mexico, is selected as the site

1945 ---- First atomic bomb is exploded in the desert near Alamagordo, New Mexico.
Little Boy,” the second atomic bomb, is dropped on Hiroshima. "Fat Man,” the third
atomic bomb, is dropped on Nagasaki.

1949 ---- USSR explodes its first atomic bomb.

1951 ---- Experimental Breeder Reactor I starts up in Idaho and produces the world’s
first useable electric power from nuclear energy, illuminating four light bulbs.

1952 ---- The first hydrogen bomb is tested by the United States.

1954 ---- The Soviet Union opens the 5 MW Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the first
nuclear power plant to produce electricity for a power grid.

1956 ---- Calder Hall opens in Sellafield, England. It is the first commercial nuclear
power station for civil use.

1956 ---- The United States explodes the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll
in the Pacific.

1963 ---- FDA authorized the first use of irradiation to treat food in the United States.
Wheat and wheat flour were irradiated to rid them of insects.

1979 ---- The Three mile island accident is the worst accident in United States
commercial reactor history. The accident is caused by a loss of coolant from the reactor
core due to a combination of mechanical malfunction and human error. However, no
one is injured, and no overexposure to radiation results from the accident.

1986 ---- The Chernobyl disaster occurs after a safety test deliberately turns off safety
systems. A large amount of radiation occurs, over fifty firefighter die, and up to 4,000
civilians are estimated to die of early cancer.

2011 ---- A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami wrecks the Fukushima nuclear plant,
triggering nuclear meltdowns that contaminate food and water and force mass
evacuations. Nearly 16,000 people are killed in the earthquake and the tsunami and
3,300 remain unaccounted for. However, much of the radiation released of it goes out to
sea instead of into populated area. No people are expected to die from radiation dose.

“Atomic power can cure as well as kill. It can fertilize and enrich a region as well as
devastate it. It can widen man's horizons as well as force him back into the cave."
From the following list of atoms, pick out those that are isotopes, isobars, isotones
and isomers ?

131 130 130 131 132 132 99m 99

Xe I Ba I Ba Cs Tc Tc
54 53 56 53 56 55 43 43

Isotopes:

Isobars:

Isobars:

Isomers:

RADIOACTIVITY/ RADIOACTIVE DECAY/ RADIOACTIVE DISINTEGRATION

It is the spontaneous emission of particles and energy when an unstable nuclide
transforms into a stable nuclide.

RADIOACTIVE HALF-LIFE/PHYSICAL HALF-LIFE(T1/2p)

It is time required for a radioactive substance to reduce 50% of its activity decay.

BIOLOGIC HALF-LIFE(T1/2b)
It is the time required for the body to eliminate one-half of an administered dosage of
any substance by regular process of elimination.

EFFECTIVE HALF-LIFE(T1/2eff)
It is the time required for a radioactive element in a body to be administered 50% as a
result of the combined action of radioactive decay and biologic elimination.

RADIOACTIVE DECAY LAW

1. RADIOACTIVE DECAY BY ALPHA(α) EMISSION/ALPHA DECAY

 it occurs in heavy nuclides

 it loses 2 units of positive charge(p or z)
 it loses 4 units of atomic mass no
 it emits alpha particles (α) and gamma ray (γ)

Example:

226 222 4

Ra Rn + α + γ
88 86 2
2. RADIOACTIVE DECAY BY BETA MINUS (β-) EMISSION/BETA-MINUS DECAY

 neutron is converted to a proton

 an increased of atomic no. by 1 unit
 the atomic mass no. remains the same
 it emits negatron(β- particles) and gamma ray(γ)

Example:

131 131 0

I Xe + β + γ
53 54 -1

3. RADIOACTIVE DECAY BY BETA PLUS (β+) EMISSION/BETA-PLUS DECAY

 proton is converted to a neutron/neutrino

 a proton in the parent nucleus decays into a neutron that remains in the daughter
nucleus
 an increased of neutron/neutrino by 1 unit
 it emits positron(β+particles/positron), neutrino and gamma ray (γ)

Example:

11 11 0

C C + β + γ

6 5 +1

4. RADIOACTIVE DECAY BY GAMMA RAY(γ) EMISSION/GAMMA DECAY

 emission of gamma ray(γ) by an unstable nuclide

 there is no change in the atomic no. and atomic mass no. of an atom
 it emits pure gamma ray (γ)

Example:
99m 99

Tc Tc + γ
43 43

5. RADIOACTIVE DECAY BY ELECTRON CAPTURE OR K-CAPTURE

 the nucleus of an atom absorbed one of its orbital electrons

 an electron is converted into a neutron
 the nucleus transforms to a daughter of one lower atomic number
 an orbital electron from the cloud is captured by the nucleus with subsequent
emission of gamma ray as the orbital vacancy is filled by an electron from the cloud
about the nucleus

Example:

7 7

Be Li + e- + γ

4 3

References:

 https://science.jburroughs.org/mbahe/BioEthics/ppt_pdf/110RadiationHistoryTimelin
e.pdf
 Callaway, W.V. & Tolley Gurley L. (2018). Introduction to Radiologic Technology, 8th
edition. Singapore. Mosby Elsevier
 Bushong, S. (2017). Radiologic Science for Technologist, 11th Edition. Mosby
Elsevier Inc.