Word: radon
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...prior to earthquakes. As cracks open in rock, the rock's electrical resistance rises because air is not a good conductor of electricity. The cracks also increase the surface area of rock exposed to water; the water thus comes in contact with more radioactive material and absorbs more radon-a radioactive gas that the Soviet scientists had noticed in increased quantities in Garm-area wells. In addition, because the cracking of the rock increases its volume, dilatancy can account for the crustal uplift and tilting that precedes some quakes. The Japanese, for instance, noticed a 2-in. rise...
...Radon Daughters. Maybe so, but scientists are now seriously concerned about the long-term effects of such low-level radiation on individuals living and working in buildings in which tailings were used. Of about 5,000 such structures in the Grand Junction area between 1,500 and 2,000 have been found to contain radon gas. This gas is so penetrating that it can seep through foundations and into basements and other closed spaces. Even more ominous is the fact that radon gas breaks down into "radon daughters," highly radioactive substances that physicians believe cause genetic defects and cancer...
...treating certain types of cancer by radiation, doctors implant little gold "seeds" inside the growths. The seeds are actually hollow gold beads, each containing radon gas. After two or three weeks, the radon's radioactivity is virtually gone. The harmless seeds are left in place, but a few of them may be sloughed off by the body. At Manhattan's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a nurse saved the seeds sloughed off by the tumor and had the salvaged gold made into a ring for her boy friend. He developed red patches on his finger. Memorial...
Nuclear Alchemy. A New Jersey engineering professor and his wife, after similar experiences, have had damaged skin removed and replaced with grafts. How had the rings become contaminated? Since radon has a half life of only 3.8 days (meaning that it loses half its radioactivity in that interval), the seeds should soon have become harmless. Trouble is, the radon turns, by nuclear alchemy, into lead-210, the radioactive isotope of that normally dull metal. The lead-210 adheres to the gold. Even so, the intact seeds are safe because the lead's rays, unlike the radon's, remain...
...Atomic Energy Commission has no control over medical radium. The states license a dozen makers of radon seeds, and keep a watch on their waste disposal. But the AEC's Dr. John Harley is concerned lest some contaminated gold may have found its way into dentures as well as jewelry...