ANSTO Radioisotopes 2 Australia

Link: http://www.ansto.gov.au/NuclearFacts/AboutNuclearScience/Radioisotopes/UsingRad ioisotopes/index.htm Please see link above for original text, embedded hotlinks and comments.

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, ANSTO

Using radioisotopes in research (with additional links) Medical radioisotopes

Radioisotope Chromium-51

Iodine-131

Iridium-192

HalfUse life Used to label red blood cells and quantify gastro-intestinal protein loss.

27.7 days Radionuclides in transfusion medicine

8.02 days

Used to diagnose and treat various diseases associated with the human thyroid.

Uses of Radioactive Iodine-131

Supplied in wire form for use as an internal radiotherapy source for certain cancers, 73.83 including those of the head and breast. days Medical Isotopes

Molybdenum- 66 99 hours

Used as the ‘parent’ in a generator to produce technetium-99m, the most widely used radioisotope in nuclear medicine.

Molybdenum-99/Technetium-99m Production and Use

Phosphorus-32 14.28 Used in the treatment of excess red blood 1

days

Samarium-153

Technetium99m

cells.

Used to reduce the pain associated with bony metastases of primary tumours.

46.7 hours Samarium Sm 153 in the Treatment of Painful Metastatic Bone Disease

Used to image the brain, thyroid, lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, gall bladder, skeleton, blood pool, bone marrow, heart blood pool, 6.01 salivary and lacrimal glands, and to detect hours infection.

Uses of Technetium-99m

Yttrium-90

64 Used for liver cancer therapy. hours

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Cyclotron-produced medical radioisotopes adioisotope Copper-64

Halflife 12.7 hours

Use Used to study genetic disease affecting copper metabolism; in Positron Emission Tomography; and also has potential therapeutic uses.

Molecular imaging with copper-64

Gallium-67

78.25 hours

Iodine-123

13.2 hours

Thallium-201 72.9 hours Carbon-11

Nitrogen-13 Oxygen-15 Fluorine-18

Used in imaging to detect tumours and infections.

Used in imaging to monitor thyroid function and detect adrenal dysfunction.

Used in imaging to detect the location of damaged heart muscle.

These are used in Positron Emission Tomography to study brain physiology and pathology; for detecting the location of 20.3 epileptic foci; and in dementia, and minutes psychiatry and neuropharmacology studies.

They are also used to detect heart problems and diagnose certain types of cancer.

10 minutes 122 minutes 1.83 hours

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Naturally occurring radioisotopes used in industry and science Radioisotope

Halflife

Carbon-14

Use Used to measure the age of organic material that is up to 50 000 years old.

Click here for Khan Academy Carbon 14 dating 1

5 715 years

Click here for Khan Academy Carbon 14 dating 2 Click here for report of Carbon 14 use to determine the age of Stonehenge in England.

Chlorine-36

Lead-210 Hydrogen-3 (tritium)

Used to measure sources of chloride and the age of water that is up to 2 301 000 million years old years Chlorine-36 Dating of Old Groundwater 22.6 years 12.32 years

Used to date layers of sand and soil laid down up to 80 years ago.

Used to measure the age of ‘young’ groundwater (up to 30 years old).

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Artificially produced radioisotopes used in industry and science Radioisotope Americium-241 •

Halflife 232.7 years

Use Used in neutron gauging and smoke detectors.

Americium in Smoke Detectors

Cobalt-60 •

5.27 years

Used in gamma radiography, gauging, and commercial medical equipment sterilisation.

What are the uses of cobalt-60?

Caesium-137 •

30.07 years

Used in radiotracing to identify sources of soil erosion and depositing; also for thickness gauging.

Gold-198 •

2.7 days

Used to trace factory waste causing ocean pollution, and to trace sand movement in river beds and on ocean floors.

Radioisotopes in Industry – World Nuclear Organization

Gold-198 Technetium-99m

2.7 days Used to study sewage and liquid waste movements. Nb technetium99m is generated from its reactor6.01 produced 'parent', molybdenum-99. days

Iridium-192

73.8 days 73.8 days

Iridium192 • Gold198 • Chromium-51•

Used in gamma radiography Used to trace sand to study coastal erosion

2.7 days 27.7 days 5

Tritiated water

12.32 years

Used as a tracer to study sewage and liquid wastes.

Ytterbium-169

32 days Used in gamma radiography Ytterbium isotopes in industry

Zinc-65 †Manganese-54 •

243.87 Used to predict the behaviour of days heavy metal components in effluents 312.1 from mining waste water. days

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