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It was a small, sealed room for patients to be exposed to radon for its "medicinal effects". The carcinogenic nature of radon due to its ionizing radiation became apparent later. Radon's molecule-damaging radioactivity has been used to kill cancerous cells, [108] but it does not increase the health of healthy cells.
Alternatively, radon may enter the body through contaminated drinking water or through the decay of ingested radium [3] – making radon diffusion one of the greatest dangers of radium. [10] Thus, 222 Rn is a carcinogen ; in fact, it is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after cigarette smoking , [ 3 ] with over 20,000 ...
The health hazard from radon does not come primarily from radon itself, but rather from the radioactive products formed in the decay of radon. [1] The general effects of radon to the human body are caused by its radioactivity and consequent risk of radiation-induced cancer .
Radon occurs naturally as a result of decay of radioactive elements in soil and it can accumulate in houses built on areas where such decay occurs. Radon is a major cause of cancer; it is estimated to contribute to ~2% of all cancer related deaths in Europe. [1]
The largest natural contributor to public radiation dose is radon, a naturally occurring, radioactive gas found in soil and rock. [10] If the gas is inhaled, some of the radon particles may attach to the inner lining of the lung. These particles continue to decay, emitting alpha particles, which can damage cells in the lung tissue. [11]
There are 39 known isotopes of radon (86 Rn), from 193 Rn to 231 Rn; all are radioactive.The most stable isotope is 222 Rn with a half-life of 3.8235 days, which decays into 218 Po
A Lucas cell can be used to measure radon gas concentrations. [2] Radon itself is an inert gas.Its danger lies in the fact that it undergoes radioactive decay.The radon decay products may lodge in the lungs and bombard them with alpha and beta particles, thus increasing the risk of lung cancer.
Radium and radon are in the environment because they are decay products of uranium and thorium. The radon (222 Rn) released into the air decays to 210 Pb and other radioisotopes, and the levels of 210 Pb can be measured. The rate of deposition of this radioisotope is dependent on the weather.