Evening star., 1932-04-07

Everybody may be radio-active-es-
pecially on windy days.
Everybody breathes into the body
minute amounts of radon, the potent
radium gas which recently is alleged to
have had fatal effects when taken In
fairly large quantities in the form OF
charged water manufactured as a tonic.
The soil the world over contains ra-
dunn which constantly is giving OF
radon. The amounts are almost inn
nitely minute except near pitchblende
deposits. so there Is no reason to be-
lieve any harm is being done.
DR.. o. H. Gish of the Terrestrial
Magnetism Laboratory Of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington said yester-
dav that the soil contains radium
roughly on an average Of one part In
10 0OO. .00O. .OOO, 900. This varies from
place to place. The District of Colum-
bia as a whole comes somewhere close
to the general average.
Now, DR.. Gish explains, this minute
amount of radium in the soil constantly
is disintegrating, giving of radon which
is the first step in the transformation
of radium into lead. This gas escapes
into the air. The atmosphere close to
the earth contains about one ten-thou-
sandth as much radioactive material
per unit volume as the soil. or one part
in a billion billions There are strik-
ing local differences.
At the site of the Terrestrial Mag
netism Laboratory at the edge OF Rock
Greek Park there is practically no radon
at all in the atmosphere. This pre-
sumably holds for most Of the North
west section. DR.. Gish stressed how
ever, that little reliance can be placed
in the extremely minute measurements
necessary unless extreme precautions
are taken with them, and he does not
claim his Washington measurements are
altogether reliable. The measurement
problem, he says. is greatly complicated
in an urban environment.
The amount Of radon in the atmos-
phere increases quite markedly when
the barometric pressure is falling so
that there Is less resistance to the es-
cape of q gas from the soil. Strong
winds tend to suck it out and rains to
wash it out When the ground Is COW
cred with snow in Winter the amount
is almost negligible.
At sea, DR.. Gish explains, there is
practically no radon at all in the at
mosphere. The perceptible amount de-
clines rapidly with the distance from
land. In caves the radioactive mate
rial in the atmosphere Is much greater
than outside.
Even If the amounts of radon in the
atmosphere were much larger than they
really are, they still would be so negN-
gible, it is explained at the Public
Health Service, that they could not
illogical effect. They may, however,
render the human being very slightly
radioactive.
The reported effects of radon in fairly
large amounts raise some far-reaching
questions. Previous studies on the ef-
feet of radioactive substances alb
sorbed into the human body have been
concerned with radium and thorium,
the actual minerals. Once fine par
ticles of these were in the tissues they
might persist for years, sending out
constant stream of powerful radiation.
They are known to produce q progress
sive and incurable condition.
The Public Health Service conducted
an extensive experiment, results OF
which still are unpublished, some years
ago following the deaths of several
women employed in radium watch dial
factory. It was found that radium got
into the systems of these victims
through the practice of moistening on
their lips the tips of the brushes used
to- apply the radiant paint.
These women. according to the sum-
mary of the Public Health Service re-
port, became themselves radioactive.
The radio-activity of any object can be
measured with extreme accuracy.
But the charged water contained not
radium itself but radon" or radium
emanation. The behavior of the two
substances is quite different.
Radium disintegrates by giving OF
three kinds of rays-alpha, beta and
gamma. The first step in its disinte-
grafton is the gas, radon. This in turn
disintegrates very rapidly, giving on
only alpha and beta rays, which have
little penetrating power and would be
unable to 60 through layer of skin.
Presumably the radon in the prepared
water would give of these rays In
side the body, but there was no par
ticular reason for believing that they
would be harmful The radon, how
ever, decays very rapidly through this
emanation process, losing half its sub