What is thorium toxicity?
Thorium is radioactive and can be stored in bones. Because of these facts it has the ability to cause bone cancer many years after the exposure has taken place. Breathing in massive amounts of thorium may be lethal. People will often die of metal poisoning when massive exposure take place.
Is thorium carcinogenic?
Cancer Hazard * Thorium Dioxide is a CARCINOGEN in humans. It has been shown to cause lung cancer.
How do you test for thorium?
Special tests that measure the level of radioactivity from thorium or thorium isotopes in the urine, feces, and exhaled air can determine if a person has been exposed to thorium. These tests are useful only if administered within a short period of time after exposure.
What was Thorotrast used for?
Thorotrast is a suspension of radioactive thorium dioxide first produced in Germany in 1928, used as a contrast agent until the 1950s. Its principal use was for cerebral angiography: 90% of the estimated 50,000-100,000 patients treated received it for this purpose.
What is radioactive thorium?
Thorium (chemical symbol Th) is a naturally occurring radioactive metal found at trace levels in soil, rocks, water, plants and animals. Thorium is solid under normal conditions. In general, naturally occurring thorium exists as Th-232, Th-230 or Th-228.
Can you hold thorium in your hand?
Alpha particles do not penetrate the human skin and is therefore not dangerous. Thorium-232 is safe provided we are not stupid enough to eat it or ground it up into a fine powder and inhale it. Thorium-232 DOES NOT produce the dangerous penetrating ionising gamma rays.
What type of radiation did the Thorotrast patients receive?
What is hepatic angiosarcoma?
Introduction. Hepatic angiosarcoma (HA) is a particularly rare, non-cirrhotic, primary malignancy of the liver, accounting for 2% of liver cancers [1]. However, it is still considered to be the third most common primary hepatic malignancy. HA is a high-grade, aggressive tumor.
What do humans use thorium for?
Thorium Sources Thorium is used to make ceramics, welding rods, camera and telescope lenses, fire brick, heat resistant paint and metals used in the aerospace industry, as well as in nuclear reactions. Thorium has the potential to be used as a fuel for generating nuclear energy.