What is radioactive cobalt used for?

Cobalt Sources Cobalt-60 is used as a radiation source in many common industrial applications, such as in leveling devices and thickness gauges. It is also used for radiation therapy in hospitals. Accidental exposures may occur as the result of loss or improper disposal of medical and industrial radiation sources.

Is cobalt naturally radioactive?

Cobalt-59 is naturally occurring and is stable. Cobalt-50 through 58 and 60 through 75 are artificially produced and are radioactive….Other Properties.

Which radioactive is cobalt?

cobalt-60, radioactive isotope of cobalt used in industry and medicine. Cobalt-60 is the longest-lived isotope of cobalt, with a half-life of 5.27 years. It is produced by irradiating the stable isotope cobalt-59 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.

Is cobalt blue radioactive?

The only stable isotope of cobalt is Co-59. But radioactive cobalt can occur naturally, too. The isotope has a half-life of 77 days and gradually decays into iron-56.

What diseases can cobalt cause?

Cobalt is toxic to the heart muscle. It can cause heart muscle disease (toxic cardiomyopathy) after too much exposure. An increase in red blood cells (polycythemia) may be a symptom of too much cobalt.

How is cobalt toxic?

There are three basic ways that cobalt can cause poisoning. You can swallow it, breathe it into your lungs, or have it come in constant contact with your skin. Cobalt poisoning can also occur from the wear and tear of some cobalt/chromium metal-on-metal hip implants.

What are the uses of cobalt’s radioactive isotopes?

Uses of radioactive isotopes in medicine Iodine-131 treatment. A radioactive isotope of iodine-131 uses in external radiation therapy for the treatment and diagnosis of thyroid gland disorders in the human body. Uses of cobalt-60. The radioactive cobalt-60 isotope is an example of a gamma emitter with definite wavelengths. Uses of sodium 24. Phosphorus-32 Used in blood cancer.

Is cobalt-60 a radioactive element?

The commonly used sources of radiation are cobalt-60, a radioactive element emitting γ-rays, or an accelerator producing a beam of electrons. Cobalt-60 is produced by neutron bombardment of stable cobalt in a nuclear reactor.

What is Cobalt 60 radiation therapy?

Radioisotope Brief: Cobalt-60 (Co-60) Co-60 is used medically for radiation therapy as implants and as an external source of radiation exposure. It is used industrially in leveling gauges and to x-ray welding seams and other structural elements to detect flaws. Co-60 also is used for food irradiation, a sterilization process.

Is cobalt an isotope?

Cobalt: isotope data. Naturally occurring cobalt consists of a single stable isotope: 59 Co. Cobalt-59 has spin 7 / 2. The usual NMR reference is K 3 [Co(CN) 6] in D 2 O. Cobalt-60 is an artifical isotope, and is an important γ-ray source.