Radium - 88Ra: biological information
Radium has no biological role.
Levels in humans
The abundances of the elements in humans.
- Human abundance by weight: 0.000001 ppb by weight
- Human abundance by atoms: 0.00000003 atoms relative to C = 1000000
How much radium is in your body? Find out here.
You can use this form to calculate how much radium your body contains. Enter your weight in either kilograms or pounds and click the "Calculate" button. You must enter a number, not text! Elements for which there are no data will always give a value of zero for the weight, no matter what you put in the weight box.
Hazards and Risks
Hazards and risks associated with radium:
Radium does not occur to any significant extent in the biosphere and so normally should never present a risk. Radium is studied in a few nuclear research laboratories where its high radioactivity requires special handling techniques and precautions. Its high radioactivity is far more important than any chemical toxicity but from a chemical point of view its hazards are similar to those of barium.
References
- J.E. Huheey, E.A. Keiter, and R.L. Keiter in Inorganic Chemistry : Principles of Structure and Reactivity, 4th edition, HarperCollins, New York, USA, 1993.
- S. Budavari (Ed.) in The Merck Index, 11th ed., Merck, USA, 1989.
- N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.