What are the effects of the element radium?
157307
Radium\nI  INTRODUCTION \n\nRadium (Latin, radius,”ray”), symbol Ra, chemically reactive, silvery-white, radioactive metallic element. In group 2 (or IIa) of the periodic table, radium is one of the alkaline earth metals. The atomic number of radium is 88.\n\nRadium was discovered in the ore pitchblende by the French chemists Marie Curie and Pierre Curie in 1898. They discovered that the ore was more radioactive than its principal component, uranium, and they separated the ore into many chemical fractions in order to isolate the unknown sources of radioactivity. One fraction, isolated by use of bismuth sulphide, contained a strongly radioactive substance that the Curies showed was a new element, polonium. A highly radioactive barium chloride fraction was treated to remove the radioactive substance, which was discovered to be a new element, radium.\n\nII  PROPERTIES AND OCCURRENCE \n\nRadium-226 metal melts at about 700° C (about 1292° F), and has a relative density of 5.5. The element oxidizes immediately upon exposure to air. The element is used and handled in the form of radium chloride or radium bromide and practically never in the metallic state.\n\nRadium is formed by the radioactive disintegration of uranium and is consequently found in all uranium ores. Radium is present in uranium ore to the extent of one part of radium to three million of uranium. It is extracted from the ore by the addition of a compound of barium that acts as a “carrier”. The chemical properties of radium are similar to those of barium, and the two substances are removed from the other components of the ore by precipitation of barium and radium sulphate. The sulphates are converted into carbonates or sulphides, which are then dissolved in hydrochloric acid. The radium is separated from the barium as the end result of successive crystallizations of the chloride solutions.\n\nOf the isotopes of radium, ranging in mass number from 206 to 232, the most abundant and most stable is the isotope of mass 226. Radium-226 is formed by the radioactive disintegration of the thorium isotope of mass 230, which is the fourth successive isotope in the decay series starting with uranium-238. The half-life of radium-226 is 1,620 years. It emits alpha particles, forming the gas radon.\n\nIII  USES \n\nRadiation from radium has a harmful effect upon living cells, and radium burns are caused by overexposure to the rays. Cancerous cells, however, are often more sensitive to radiation than normal cells, and such cells may be killed without seriously injuring healthy tissue by controlling the intensity and direction of the radiation. Radium is now used in the treatment of only a few kinds of cancer; radium chloride or radium bromide is enclosed in a sealed tube and inserted in the diseased tissue. When a radium salt is mixed with a substance such as zinc sulphide, the substance is caused to luminesce by the bombardment of the alpha rays emitted by the radium. Small amounts of radium were once used in the production of luminous paint, which was applied to clock dials, doorknobs, and other objects, to make them glow in the dark.
1142529
Mercury can cause serious and permanent nerve and kidney damage. Mercury poisoning (acrodynia) has these symptoms: rapid heartbeat, sweating, irritability or hostility, withdrawal or shyness, memory loss, peeling of hands and feet, leg pain, slight hand tremors, difficulty with fine motor control (such as handwriting), sleeplessness, and headaches. Young children and children born to women exposed during pregnancy may be especially sensitive.\n\nIf you believe you have mercury poisoning, see a doctor. If mercury has been sprinkled in your home, open all windows so the mercury vapors can escape. It may take several days of ventilation to eliminate the mercury. If you have questions about how to clean up and dispose of mercury, call your local health department. To avoid mercury poisoning, do not sprinkle mercury around the house or expose people in the home to mercury vapors.
988615
atoms splitting apart by fission and protons clinging to the control rods in the reactor. there is steam produced also. and if you REALLY wanna see physical changes, jump in!
559938
If u are a student , then u should not be lazy in doing your homework etc.  \n\n\nCriticality accidents:\n\nCriticality accidents and power excursions in nuclear reactors, for example the Chernobyl accident. In a smaller scale accident at Sarov a technician working with highly enriched uranium was irradiated while preparing an experiment involving a sphere of fissile material. The Sarov accident is interesting because the system remained critical for many days before it could be stopped, though it was safely located in a shielded experimental hall. This is an example of a limited scope accident where only a few people can be harmed, while no release of radioactivity into the environment occurred. A criticality accident with limited off site release of both radiation (gamma and neutron) and a very small release of radioactivity occurred at Tokaimura in 1999 during the production of enriched uranium fuel .\n\n\nDecay heat:\n\nDecay heat accidents where the heat generated by the radioactive decay causes harm. In a nuclear reactor that has been shut down, a loss of coolant accident can damage the core, for instance at Three Mile Island a recently shutdown PWR reactor was left for a length of time without cooling water. As a result the nuclear fuel was damaged, and the core was partly melted.\n\nTransport:\n\nTransport accidents can cause a release of radioactivity resulting in contamination or shielding to be damaged resulting in direct irradiation. In Cochabamba a defective gamma radiography set was transported in a passenger bus as cargo. The gamma source was outside the shielding, and it irradiated some bus passengers.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, it was revealed in a recent court case that a radiotherapy source was transported from Leeds to Sellafield with defective shielding. The shielding had a gap on the underside. It is thought that no human has been seriously harmed by the escaping radiation.\n\n\nEquipment failure:\n\nEquipment failure is one possible type of accident, recently at Białystok in Poland the electronics associated with a particle accelerator used for the treatment of cancer suffered a malfunction . This then lead to the overexposure of at least one patient. While the initial failure was the simple failure of a semiconductor diode, it set in motion a series of events which led to a radiation injury.\n\n\nHuman error:\n\nHuman error has been responsible for some accidents, for instance a person miscalculated the activity of a teletherapy source. This then lead to patients being given the wrong dose of gamma rays. In the case of radiotherapy accidents, an underexposure is as much an accident as an overexposure as the patients may not get the full benefit of the proscribed treatment. Also, humans have made errors while attempting to service plant and equipment which has resulting in overdoses of radiation, such as the Nevvizh and Soreq irradiator accidents.\n\n\nLost source:\n\nLost source accidents are ones in which a radioactive source is lost, stolen or abandoned. The source then might cause harm to humans or the environment. For example, see the event in Lilo where sources were left behind by the Soviet army. Another case occurred at Yanango where a radiography source was lost, also at Samut Prakarn a cobalt-60 teletherapy source was lost  and at Gilan in Iran a radiography source harmed a welder. The best known example of this type of event is the Goiânia accident which occurred in Brazil.\n\nThe IAEA have provided guides for scrap metal collectors on what a sealed source might look like. The scrap metal industry is the one where lost sources are most likely to be found.\n\n\nOthers:\n\nSome accidents defy classification. These accidents happen when the unexpected occurs with a radioactive source. For instance if a bird grabs a radioactive source containing radium from a windowsill and then was to fly away with it, returning to its nest and then the bird dies shortly afterwards from direct irradiation then i
601803
not much\nsomething else decays into radium, or is recombinant
793681
Those are the alkaline earth metals, technically referred to as Group 2.  They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba) and radium (Ra).  Radium has two valence electrons and is in Group 2, but is sometimes left off lists of the alkaline earth metals because it is radioactive.
763722
Sometimes the weight of the nucleus can determine properties or the volume of the electron cloud, the higher the atomic number the greater the volume, can also affect how the element behaves.
888200
radiation causes the cells of the body to grow abnormally, the thing is, we can tolerate quite a bit of it before it damages us. \n\nhttp://www.umm.edu/ency/article/000026.htm
732349
You will find all sorts of information by searching "Chernobyl radiation effects."  It's looks rather interesting & so I'm going to read it all now.  It gives many different web sites to chose from.
542908
(m)\n\nON THE 6th August 1945, exactly 56 years ago, an atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima. Nagasaki faced devastation three days later. The Imperial Headquarters requested Dr. Y.Nishina (famous for Klein-Nishina formula for Compton scattering of photons) to go to Hiroshima. He concluded that the damage was due to an atomic bomb. \n\nWhen the bombs were dropped, these cities had an estimated population of 310,000 and 250,000 respectively. About 90,000- 140,000 in Hiroshima and 60,000- 80,000 people in Nagasaki died immediately or within two to four months after bombing, resulting from collapse of houses caused by the blast and from heat rays and fires and radiation exposure. In the 1950 Japanese national census, nearly 280,000 persons stated that they "had been exposed" in the two cities. \n\nRadiation fogged X-ray films stored at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. Exposed material became radioactive. Kimura and Tajima of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research determined that the Hiroshima bomb exploded at a height of 577 m. They used an electric furnace and a carbon arc furnace to simulate charring observed on the surface of a wooden board of Japanese cypress and estimated that the bomb had a radiant energy of 4.6 million million calories. \n\nScientists could enter the bombed area only after 3 to 4 weeks because of frequent typhoons. They measured higher radiation levels due to induced radioactivity near the epicentre. Additional radiation levels were 10-15 per cent of the natural background. \n\nOn November 18, 1946 Harry Truman authorised the National Research Council to establish an agency "to undertake a long range, continuing study of the biological and medical effects of the atomic bomb on man". This organisation grew into the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC). ABCC continued to work till 1975 when Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) was set up as a bi-national endeavour. \n\nMany believe in the myth that birth defects are more common among the children of the survivors of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In my interaction with general physicians and other professional groups the one topic, which elicits maximum queries, is " genetic effects of radiation". Radiation can cause mutations in genes. Mouse and in fruit flies exposed to radiation suffer genetic mutations. The changes may show up in the offspring as colour of the coat, shape of the wings, etc. But such markers are not available in the human species. We require very sophisticated laboratory methods to demonstrate subtle changes in exposed individuals. \n\n\nPhysicians appointed by ABCC examined 76,626 infants conceived and born in Hiroshima and Nagasaki over a period of six years starting from the late spring of 1948. The researchers did not see statistically demonstrable increase in major birth defects in these infants. While the survey started, certain dietary staples were rationed in Japan. Pregnant women had special provisions. Because of this, the surveyors of new-borns could identify 90 per cent of the pregnancies that persisted for at least 20 weeks of gestation. \n\nPhysical examination of the new born and autopsies on as many stillborn infants revealed that neither the frequency of major birth defects nor the frequency of the most common birth defects differ significantly with radiation exposure of parents. The researchers examined some 21,788 infants shortly after birth and re-examined them eight to ten months later. The study covered 65,431 registered pregnancy terminations and appropriate control populations. \n\nIn a brief review, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation cautioned, "The absence of a statistically significant effect of ionising radiation on the frequency of major birth defects should not be construed as evidence that mutations were not induced by parental exposure to atomic radiation". The researchers saw mutations in every animal and plant species studied. \n
1147888
Common Heavy Metals: Sources and Specific Effects\nAluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel are the most prevalent heavy metals. The specific sources of exposure, body tissues in which the metal tends to be deposited, and health effects of each metal are identified below.\n\n1. Aluminum\nSources of exposure: Aluminum cookware, aluminum foil, antacids, antiperspirants, baking powder (aluminum containing), buffered aspirin, canned acidic foods, food additives, lipstick, medications and drugs (anti-diarrheal agents, hemorrhoid medications, vaginal douches), processed cheese, "softened" water, and tap water.\n\nTarget tissues: Bones, brain, kidneys and stomach.\n\nSigns and Symptoms: Colic, dementia, esophagitis, gastroenteritis, kidney damage, liver dysfunction, loss of appetite, loss of balance, muscle pain, psychosis, shortness of breath, and weakness.\n\nAmong the patients I see in my practice, the highest aluminum exposure is most frequently due to the chronic consumption of aluminum-containing antacid products. Research shows that aluminum builds up in the body over time; thus, the health hazard to older people is greater.\n\nD.R. McLaughlin, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C), professor of physiology and medicine and director of the Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto, states, "Concentrations of aluminum that are toxic to many biochemical processes are found in at least ten human neurological conditions."10 Recent studies suggest that aluminum contributes to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, senile and presenile dementia, clumsiness of movements, staggering when walking, and inability to pronounce words properly.11 Behavioral difficulties among schoolchildren have also been correlated with elevated levels of aluminum and other neurotoxic heavy metals.\n\n2. Arsenic\nSources of exposure: Air pollution, antibiotics given to commercial livestock, certain marine plants, chemical processing, coal-fired power plants, defoliants, drinking water, drying agents for cotton, fish, herbicides, insecticides, meats (from commercially raised poultry and cattle), metal ore smelting, pesticides, seafood (fish, mussels, oysters), specialty glass, and wood preservatives.\n\nTarget tissues: Most organs of the body, especially the gastrointestinal system, lungs, and skin.\n\nSigns and Symptoms: Abdominal pain, burning of the mouth and throat, cancer (especially lung and skin), coma, diarrhea, nausea, neuritis, peripheral vascular problems, skin lesions, and vascular collapse.\n\nThe greatest dangers from chronic arsenic exposure are lung and skin cancers and gradual poisoning, most frequently from living near metal smelting plants or arsenic factories.\n\n3. Cadmium\nSources of exposure: Air pollution, art supplies, bone meal, cigarette smoke, food (coffee, fruits, grains, and vegetables grown in cadmium-laden soil, meats [kidneys, liver, poultry], or refined foods), freshwater fish, fungicides, highway dusts, incinerators, mining, nickel-cadmium batteries, oxide dusts, paints, phosphate fertilizers, power plants, seafood (crab, flounder, mussels, oysters, scallops), sewage sludge, "softened" water, smelting plants, tobacco and tobacco smoke, and welding fumes.\n\nTarget tissues: Appetite and pain centers (in brain), brain, heart and blood vessels, kidneys, and lungs.\n\nSigns and Symptoms: Anemia, dry and scaly skin, emphysema, fatigue, hair loss, heart disease, depressed immune system response, hypertension, joint pain, kidney stones or damage, liver dysfunction or damage, loss of appetite, loss of sense of smell, lung cancer, pain in the back and legs, and yellow teeth.\n\nCurrent studies are attempting to determine if cadmium-induced bone and kidney damage can be prevented (or made less likely) by adequate calcium, protein (amino acids), vitamin D, and zinc in the diet.12\n\n4. Lead\nSources of exposure: Air pollution, ammuni
120806
Radon gas is the result of radioactive decay of radium, which is one of the by-products of uranium radioactive decay. So if Ohio, or your particular area in Ohio, is an area of maximum concentration, it's due to the geology of that area. Meaning at one time there was a higher than average amount of naturally occuring uranium that has decayed to radium.
683748
it brings in elements like Zn, Mg, Na, Fe\n\nVitamin: Vitaminc C and B
821096
Because being so dense, Uranium is higly unstable. A normal atom simply shouldn't contain that many protons, neutrons, and electrons, so every once in a while, protons start popping out, which is what causes the radiation output. Over time, Uranium gradually changes into lighter and lighter elements through the loss of its electrons. This process is called radioactive decay.\n\nBTW, I don't mean to show off, but I'm only 14.
667142
http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/br.html
858444
It means an element in which its atoms emit electromagnetig waves and particles Without the use of any medium. normaly radoiactive is liked to harm but since all radioactive material has harmfull efects to living organisims then it is true to link radioactivity with harm.
1023546
Radium and polonium are primarily alpha emitters (an alpha particle is essentially the nucleus of a HELIUM atom, without electrons), as the previous poster noted. But they also emit gamma radiations, and many of the isotopes are beta emitters. There are even a few cases where they emit positrons (for example, Polonium 186).