![]() The following video exhibits the initial cloud of caesium-137 over Europe immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion and helps validate the fact that caesium-137 will continue to affect individuals in the indicated regions because of Cs-137 30 year half life. Because of the chemical nature of caesium, it move easily throughout the environment, thus making caesium-137 difficult to cleanup. Once released into the environment, caesium-137 is subject to radioactive decay with the emission of beta particles and gamma radiation. In these cases, cesium was one of many radionuclides present in the release. High levels of Cs-134 and Cs-137 have been released to the environment from nuclear weapons testing and incidents such as the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine. Because of the continual emission of radiation, people could be exposed to radiation from Cs-137 or Cs-134 released to the environment. The half-lives of Cs-134 and Cs-137 are approximately 2 years and 30 years, respectively. Beta and gamma radiation may induce tissue damage and disruption of cellular function. Skin contact can allow the beta radiation to pass through the epidermis to live dermal tissue where it becomes a major contributor to the radiation dose to the skin. Beta radiation emitted outside the body is normally of little health concern unless the radioactive material contacts the skin. The radiation dose from these radionuclides can be classified as either external (if the radiation source is outside the body) or internal (if the radiation source is inside the body). Beta radiation travels shorter distances and penetrates the skin and body tissues, while gamma radiation travels greater distances and penetrate the entire body. Both Cs-137 and Cs-134 release beta radiation and gamma radiation. The most important caesium isotopes in terms of their potential effects on human health are caesium-134 (Cs-134) and caesium-137 (Cs-137). The radioactive isotopes of caesium are formed during nuclear fission, in commercial applications such as the generation of electricity at nuclear power plants. ![]() In nature, caesium exists only as a non-radioactive (or stable) isotope known as caesium-133 (Cs-133) however, there exist several caesium isotopes that are radioactive. Because of its high reactivity, caesium is classified as a hazardous material and must be handled under inert gas, such as argon.Ĭaesium has a total of 39 isotopes ranging from mass numbers of 112 to 151. In addition to this, caesium is extremely reactive and pyrophoric - explosively reacting with water at -116✬ and igniting spontaneously in air. The metal appears as a silvery-gold metal and has similar physical and chemical properties as rubidium and potassium moreover, caesium has a melting point of 28.4✬, making it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature. Item Type:Ĭrustaceous Lichens, Sensitive Monitor, Activity of Caesium-137.Caesium is a soft, alkali metal with an atomic number of 55. These results proved that crustaceous lichens may be one of the most sensitive biological monitors about the remote transmission and environmental radiation levels of caesium-137. It was found that the activity of caesium-137 (Bq/kg) in the crustaceous lichens was one order of magnitude higher than that found in surface soil, and was over three orders of magnitude higher than those found in the familiar biological samples. The measurements were performed with GEM series HPGe (high-purity Germanium) coaxial detector system (ADCAM-100) made by EC & GORTEC Company in USA. ![]() The activity of caesium-137 (Bq/kg) in the crustaceous lichens and other samples was determined to prove the feasibility that crustaceous lichens work as a sensitive biology monitor to record the caesium-137 (Bq/kg) radiation levels of terrestrial environment. Chunguang, Du and Ye, Zhao and Jing, Zhang and Cuihua, XuĬrustaceous lichens sensitive monitor of caesium-137 radiation level in terrestrial environment.
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