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Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation such as alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays. Radioluminescence is used as a low level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage.
Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only 222 Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to be released from the soil and rock where it is generated.
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]
Radium-228 is more likely to cause cancer of the bone as the shorter half-life of radon-220 compared to radon-222 causes the daughter nuclides of radium-228 to deliver a greater dose of alpha radiation to the bones. It also considers the induction of several forms of cancer caused by internal exposure to radium and its daughter nuclides.
Radon can be found in some spring waters and hot springs. [7] The towns of Misasa, Japan, and Bad Kreuznach, Germany boast radium-rich springs which emit radon, as does Radium Springs, New Mexico. Radon exhausts naturally from the ground, particularly in certain regions, especially but not only regions with granitic soils. However, not all ...
Radon experiments at the Radium Institute in Paris, 1924. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas discovered in 1900 by Friedrich Ernst Dorn (1848-1916) and is considered carcinogenic. Radon is increasingly found in areas with high levels of uranium and thorium in the soil. These are mainly areas with high granitic rock deposits.
Radon is responsible for the majority of public exposure to ionizing radiation. It is often the single largest contributor to an individual's background radiation dose, and is the most variable from location to location. Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as attics and basements.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. [1]