2 ms·
Allowable intake levels are different for different isotopes. Potassium has a biological half life of a few hours, Caesium (the isotope in question here), of se
by creshal 11y ago
Allowable intake levels are different for different isotopes. Potassium has a biological half life of a few hours, Caesium (the isotope in question here), of several weeks.
The FDA apparently doesn't even bother with regulating allowable Potassium-40 levels due to this.
- AstralStorm 11y agoWhich is why you shouldn't use Bq/kg and instead use Sieverts. It's not that bad, human body can get rid of caesium-131 etc. pretty well via kidneys. The main problem was radioiodide which accumulates in thyroid and parathyroid glands and super heavy isotopes which are chemically dangerous, e.g. plutionium and uranium - but these do not disperse far at all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sievert - Recommended reading, has a handy table. Fukushima doesn't even register as dangerous in there, equivalent to about 3 full CT scans. Data from Chernobyl is scarce, but I'd suspect 4x that value due to more retained isotopes.