Is lead (Pb) radioactive, and dangerous in that way??
112035
As everyone knows by now, lead is poisonous. That is why we don't make lead pipes any more for plumbing (one of the potential reasons the Roman empire fell), or use tetraethyl lead to increase octane number in gasoline, or use lead-based paints. \n\nHowever, it is less well-known that lead is often radioactive. Natural lead is a mixture of four stable isotopes: 204Pb (1.48%), 206Pb (23.6%), 207Pb (22.6%), and 208Pb (52.3%). These lead isotopes are the result of the decay of uranium (Pb206), actinium (Pb207) and thorium (Pb208). There are also another 27 other radioactive isotopes of lead that are possible, but if they are present naturally, they are present only in tiny amounts. \n \n\n\nPb204 is only very slightly radioactive, with a half-life of 1.4e17 years (longer than the present age of the universe). Pb205 does not occur naturally, and has a half life of 1.53e7 years. Pb206, Pb207 and Pb208 are not at all radioactive. Pb210 is only present in trace amounts in the natural environment, and has a half life of 22.3 years. The decay products are alpha particles and beta particles, both of which are easily blocked (in contrast to gamma radiation).\n\nRecently, the State of Illinois determined that some products made with lead were contaminated with radioactive lead (see attached reference). However, on studying the problem, both the state of Illinois and the EPA decided that the hazards due to radiation were very limited.\n\nRemember, one increases substantially ones exposure to radiation by taking a plane flight, or by moving to Denver. The increase in radiation exposure has to be balanced against what is present in the natural environment. \n\nAlso, it is not clear how dangerous low levels of radiation are. There is a concept called radiation hormesis that has been around for a long time, but is now being reexamined carefully again. It is possible that small doses of radiation might be helpful in some cases (see reference).
234433
it is also dangerous like mercury.Be carefull when you use it.\nWhen you touch the mercury you might get poisoned.Mercury not only dangerous via mercury vapour.
376905
Radionucleides.  The only time you might ordinarily be exposed to them is during a medical proceedure wherein the radiation they emit is a desired aspect.  Those proceedures are either for diagnostic purposes or theraputic purposes.  \n\nBad for you?  No, the amount of radiation your body is exposed to during such an exam is quite minimal.  On the other hand, theraputic radiation is very, very carefully controlled and administered.  In the past, folks sometimes experienced quite a bit of discomfort during radiation therapy.  That's much less the case now, and we have medicines to help what discomfort there is - medicines that simply were not avaliable until recently.\n\nThat having been said, there's been a lot of fuss and bother over the possibility of someone "exploding a dirty bomb",  meaning a device that might spread radioactive particles over a wide area.  Despite Homeland Security's attempts to panic us, that is very, very, VERY unlikely.  So is a nuclear accident like Three Mile Island twenty or so years ago - and Three Mile Island, frightening as it was for people living nearby, left nobody outside the plant sick from radiation - nobody.  But a serious accident COULD result in many, many serious injuries and deaths.  The proper response is for surrounding communities to have in place a proper disaster response plan that may include mass evacuation and prophylactic medicines in stock.  Unfortunately, despite all the hype and all the promises, vitually no community has done squat to properly prepare for either a nuclear accident or a deliberate attempt an spreading nuclear-contaminated materal.  Sure as can be, the Federal government has done virtually nothing worthwhile in that respect!   The stinkers...
206939
OK ... I don't know about the heavy metals ... but I sure wouldn't want my vacuum cleaner "dust" to be in my compost bin, and I sure wouldn't want to use the compose on any gardens that might grow things I could eat!\n\nWhy?\n\nThink about it ... most DUST is actually dead skin and dust mites, and other little critters ... DUST is DISGUSTING.
958680
The Daily Mail in the UK says:\n\nPolonium 210 is one of the most toxic substances known to man, with a particle the size of a speck of dust enough to cause the sort of slow, agonising death suffered by Alexander Litvinenko. \n\nWeight for weight, the rare radioactive isotope is 250billion times more toxic than cyanide, and more than a billion times more radioactive than uranium
892237
Sounds like an "urban legend" to me. Given that the normal usage requires that the product become airborne and therefore inhalable, I would highly doubt that there would be chemicals in such concentrations to be lethal.
46246
its a heavy metal and all heavy metals, in large doses are lethal to humans
985696
Yes it can be dangerous.\n\nIt is a very reactive element and can explode/combust when it comes into contact with water, air, flames, acid etc.\n\nIt is generally stored in oil where it is relatively safe, because it is protected from the things mentioned above.
75318
It's one of the densest metals, yet non-radioactive and inexpensive  - compared with its other cousins eg. Gold. Because it is so dense and heavy, can protect us from X rays and radioactive substances. It is also malleable and was used in lead pipes which gave everyone lead poisoning.
924996
There are thousands of toxic items used in industry, agriculture, water treatment, etc that can be used as terrorist weapons. However Po-210 is very toxic.  It is readily soluble in dilute acids and disperses throughout the body.  It is 5000 times as radioactive as radium.  It emits alpha particles, which means that inside a sealed container or capsule it's virtually harmless, but in proximity to bone marrow, hair follicles, lung, liver, and kidney tissue (plus other tissues) it can deliver a high dose of radiation.  It is made in nuclear reactors by bismuth-209 absorbing a neutron to become bismuth-210, which emits a beta particle (same charge and size as an electron) to become polonium-210.  Which leads one to speculate that, if Mr. Litvinenko was indeed intentionally poisoned with this substance, the perps must have had access to a nuclear reactor and/or waste products from one.   \n \n        An interesting medical trivia point:  smoking 2 packs per day gives one on the average 1300 millirems of radiation a year because of adherence of polonium (and other radioactive substances) to tobacco leaves.  This is roughly four times the average annual US radiation dose from natural background, including radon, that all of us receive.  Of course, there are areas of the world, e.g. some spots in Iran, where the dose from radon from hot springs is ten times higher than the dose from smoking!
786064
I can't quite understand your units.\n\nWhy do you have grams in there? Why a unit of area (cm2)?\n\nThe thickness of lead will just be a distance, e.g. 1 cm.\n\nMost people use 2" (2 inches) as the tenth thickness in examples but it depends on the energy of the gamma emissions. You need to give some details. At the moment your questions makes no sense because your units and values are unintelligible.\n\nIf you just want a definition then the TVT (Tenth Value Thickness) is the amount of lead shielding you would need to reduce the strength of a gamma emission to just one tenth of the value at source.
325724
Not from today's pencils because it is really graphite, which is not poisonous. However real LEAD is poisonous because it causes lead poisoning (logical, right?). \n\n(Learn from history: Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous in the Middle Ages because they were typically only eaten by the richer families who had lead plates. The acids in tomatoes brought out the lead into the food, and when the food was consumed it caused lead poisoning.)
910541
It's a radioactive isotope and product of nuclear waste. Of which, you have to ingest, be injected, or otherwise be phisically contacted with internally to be exposed to in order to be affected by it. It is lethal in doses so small, you could fit it on the tip, not head, of a pin. It acts as a poison, as it is radioactive, and acts quickly and efficently on your internal organs, causing all types of havoc on them and your body, much like radiation poisoning.
760442
It's a lie, it's like cell phones causing gas stations to blow up. I work for a package delievery service and we ship optic mice, cell phones and what not all the time, and if something edmits radioactivity it's required to be labeled, even if it doesn't emit the radiation when it's turned off. the only thing you have in ur home that is slightly radioactive is ur smoke detectors.which are class 1, meaning as long as u dont eat them you'll be fine
1102775
uhm... it would be really difficult to breath in vaporized lead... the heat would have killed you first.
756851
Polonium:\n\npo·lo·ni·um (pə-lō'nē-əm) pronunciation\nn. (Symbol Po)\n\nA naturally radioactive metallic element, occurring in minute quantities as a product of radium disintegration and produced by bombarding bismuth or lead with neutrons. It has 27 isotopes ranging in mass number from 192 to 218, of which Po 210, with a half-life of 138.39 days, is the most readily available. Atomic number 84; melting point 254°C; boiling point 962°C; specific gravity 9.32; valence 2, 4.\n\n[From Medieval Latin Polōnia, Poland (the native country of Pierre and Marie Curie, the element's discoverers).]\nPolonium\n\nA chemical element, Po, atomic number 84. Marie Curie discovered the radioisotope 210Po in pitchblende. This isotope is the penultimate member of the radium decay series. All polonium isotopes are radioactive, and all are shortlived except the three ?-emitters, artificially produced 208Po (2.9 years) and 209Po (100 years), and natural 210Po (138.4 days). See also Periodic table.\n\nPolonium (210Po) is used mainly for the production of neutron sources. It can also be used in static eliminators and, when incorporated in the electrode alloy of spark plugs, is said to improve the cold-starting properties of internal combustion engines.\n\nMost of the chemistry of polonium has been determined using 210Po, 1 curie of which weighs 222.2 micrograms; work with weighable amounts is hazardous, requiring special techniques. Polonium is more metallic than its lower homolog, tellurium. The metal is chemically similar to tellurium, forming the bright red compounds SPoO3 and SePoO3. The metal is soft, and its physical properties resemble those of thallium, lead, and bismuth. Valences of 2 and 4 are well established; there is some evidence of hexavalency. Polonium is positioned between silver and tellurium in the electrochemical series.\n\nTwo forms of the dioxide are known: low-temperature, yellow, face-centered cubic (UO2 type), and high-temperature, red, tetragonal. The halides are covalent, volatile compounds, resembling their tellurium analogs.polonium (pəlō'nēəm) , radioactive chemical element; symbol Po; at. no. 84; mass no. of most stable isotope 209; m.p. 254°C; b.p. 962°C; sp. gr. about 9.4; valence +2 or +4. Polonium is an extremely rare element found in uranium ores (about 0.1 gram per ton). A product of radium decay, it is sometimes called radium F. In its physical and chemical properties it resembles tellurium (the element above it in Group 16 of the periodic table) and bismuth. Polonium has 34 isotopes, more than any other element. All of these isotopes are radioactive. The most stable, polonium-209, has a half-life of about 103 years. Polonium-208 (half-life about 3 years) is the only other polonium isotope with a half-life over one year. Although these two isotopes can be prepared in small quantities in a particle accelerator, they are very expensive to produce. All other polonium isotopes are short-lived except polonium-210 (half-life about 138 days), which is the most commonly used isotope. It is prepared by bombarding bismuth with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. It is a highly radioactive material. A milligram of polonium-210 emits as much alpha radiation as about 5 grams of radium, and enough gamma radiation to cause a blue glow in the air around it. It can be used as a heat source, since most of the energy of the alpha radiation is absorbed as heat within the polonium and its container. Polonium has found use in small portable radiation sources and in the control of static electricity. However, it is an extremely toxic substance and must be handled with great care. Polonium was the first element to be discovered because of its radioactivity; it was discovered in pitchblende in 1898 by Marie Curie and named for her native country, Poland.A naturally radioactive metallic element, occurring in minute quantities in uranium ores; its most readily available isotope is Po 210, with a half-life of 138.39 day
332727
I would assume that lead pellets would be heavier than aluminum. Try placing them in a liquid which is buoyant for aluminum and the lead should fall to the bottom. Thick Veg Oil or something? A magnet might work too. Not sure though.