Polonium-210

Polonium-210, 210Po
General
Symbol210Po
Namespolonium-210, 210Po, Po-210,
radium F
Protons (Z)84
Neutrons (N)126
Nuclide data
Natural abundanceTrace
Half-life (t1/2)138.376±0.002 d[1]
Isotope mass209.9828736[2] Da
Spin0
Parent isotopes210Bi (β−)
Decay products206Pb
Decay modes
Decay modeDecay energy (MeV)
Alpha decay5.40753[2]
Isotopes of polonium
Complete table of nuclides

Polonium-210 (210Po, Po-210, historically radium F) is an isotope of polonium. It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days (about 4+1⁄2 months), the longest half-life of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes (210–218Po).[1] First identified in 1898, and also marking the discovery of the element polonium, 210Po is generated in the decay chain of uranium-238 and radium-226. 210Po is a prominent contaminant in the environment, mostly affecting seafood and tobacco. Its extreme toxicity is attributed to intense radioactivity, mostly due to alpha particles, which easily cause radiation damage, including cancer in surrounding tissue. The specific activity of 210
Po is 166 TBq/g, i.e., 1.66 × 1014 Bq/g. At the same time, 210Po is not readily detected by common radiation detectors, because its gamma rays have a very low energy. Therefore, 210
Po can be considered as a quasi-pure alpha emitter.

  1. ^ a b Nuclear Data Center at KAERI; Table of Nuclides http://atom.kaeri.re.kr/nuchart/?zlv=1
  2. ^ a b Wang, M.; Audi, G.; Kondev, F. G.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Xu, X. (2017). "The AME2016 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs, and references" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 41 (3): 030003-1–030003-442. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/41/3/030003.