The techniques using radio-isotope labeled compounds are well organised and safety limits are defined. Many thousands hospitals are using such compounds to improve the quality of life in developed in developing countries
https://www.iaea.org/resources/rpop/health-professionals/nuclear-medicine
NUCLEAR GLOSSARY – IAEA
RELATIVE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS (RBE)
A factor that is used to express the relative amount of biological change
caused by a unit of energy deposited by a particular type of ionizing
radiation into a specific part of the body. The RBE is complex and organ-
specific. Due to its complexity, a simple parameter, called the quality
factor, is applied to different types of radiation as a matter of regulatory practice for the purpose of estimating biological damage and the resulting cancer risk.
http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/aph/resources/nuclearglossary-APH.pdf
Dear Wei,
radioisotopes and isotopic labelled atoms are two different things when it comes to physiological impact:
a) radioisotopes are radioactive nuclei sending out e.g. alpha-, beta-, or gamma radiation. The physiological impact depends on the type of radiation and the intensity/rate (reciprocal to half-life of the isotope). for details look up Inorganic Chemistry / General Chemistry Textbooks.
b) some isotopic labels such as 13C or 2H (deuterium) are not radioactive but their kinetics are different from bulk carbon or hydrogen, thus having an impact on chemical reactions. This isotope effect is larger for smaller atoms thus maximum for 2D. This isotope effect is the reason why you should not dring D2O instead of H2O. It is not because deuterium is radioactive.
c) some isotopic labels are indeed radioactive, for these elements both problems can be important.
Hope this helps
AXEL
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