Radioactive strontium: medical use and health hazards
Strontium radioactive is the general name for radioactive isotopes of strontium with a mass number ranging from 81 to 97 and a half-life ranging from 0.7 minutes to 28 years. These isotopes are a product of nuclear fission in reactors and can be used in various fields, including medicine.
One use of stable strontium is as an additive in glass and ceramics to give them a yellow color. However, radioactive isotopes of strontium can pose a health risk because they can accumulate in bones and cause cancer.
Despite this, several radioactive strontium isotopes are used in medicine for radioisotope diagnostics and radiation therapy. For example, the isotope ^89Sr is used to treat bone cancer because it can accumulate in tumors in the bones and destroy cancer cells.
In addition, the isotope ^90Sr can be used to treat some forms of cancer and other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, its use may be associated with certain risks, since this isotope can accumulate in bones and cause cancer.
Thus, radioactive strontium has both dangerous and beneficial properties, and its use in medicine must be carefully regulated. Despite the potential risks, radioactive strontium isotopes may represent a powerful tool for fighting cancer and other diseases, and research in this area continues.
Strontium is a metal occupying seventh place in the periodic table. It is in period III, group IIIB, subgroup II. There are two stable isotopes of strontium, as well as 17 radioactive ones. Strontium has no toxic isomers and is safe when inhaled.
Strontium is used in metallurgy, mechanical engineering, medicine, science and chemical production. Radioisotope strontium is used in medicine: to measure fractional intubated blood volume and drainage of lung cancer by radiation therapy.