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by Gordonjcp 1204 days ago
> if you have a small piece of it, it is rather harmless given it is an alpha emitter and can be stopped via single sheet of paper.

Thing with alpha emitters is, if you get it on you the outer layers of skin will stop it before it does much damage. If you get it *in* you, where there's living tissue way closer to the surface like in your mouth or your lungs, it'll give you an absolute rip-roaring tumour.
2 comments
kennend3 1203 days ago
Most adults stopped putting strange things in their mouths a long time ago.

But agree, Alpha emitters are a problem if taken internally, which is why i stated breathing/drinking tritium increases cancer risks.

there is not a clear line between "alpha exposure" and "rip-roarding tumour"... See "nuclear medicine", "radioactive tracers" etc for examples of where alpha emitters are intentionally given to patients.

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Gordonjcp 1202 days ago
Yes,-ish but look at the isotopes used for radiotracers in medicine - they typically undergo beta decay and their half-lives are in the order of minutes, mostly, with phosphorus having a half-life of about a fortnight and sulphur about three months.
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ClumsyPilot 1203 days ago
The most important decontamination procedure is a shower.

I think case with plutonium is helped by the fact that we do not normally eat lumps of metal.

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