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I recently had to do a paper for chemistry about radioactivity. We had to give
positive and negative effects of radioactivity. Then we had to decide if
radioactivity is really bad. My first instinct was "of course, radioactivity is
bad." But is it?
First, what is radioactivity? What I was taught in class is that radioactivity
is the emission of the subatomic particles of an atom attempting to become
stable. Atoms like to have the same number of protons and neutrons in them. (Protons are
positively charged particles, neutrons are particles with no charge.) But some
elements do not have this one-to-one balance. These atoms are radioactive, and are
unstable. Therefore, these atoms will throw out parts of itself to try to attain
this sought-after ratio, becoming stable.
After beginning my research, I discovered that radioactivity is deeply
involved in medicine. Did you know that radioactivity can be used to treat heart
disease and prevent it from coming back? All other methods of treating heart
disease only temporarily fix the problem. Only radioactivity prevents the
disease from returning. Radioactivity also can be used to treat many cancers.
For example, radioactive substances can be inserted into the breast of a breast
cancer patient, killing the cancer.
On a simpler level, radioactivity can kill
the bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella. Meats are simply
sent through radioactive waves, and the bacteria are killed. Many school
cafeterias use this meat to ensure the safety of their students.
So if radioactivity does all these good things, why does the majority of the
population think it's so bad? Probably because people are scared of
radioactivity because it has caused some real damage. For example,
when there was a nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl, a lot of people died. People
still can't inhabit the areas surrounding Chernobyl, because it's still
dangerous.
You see, when exposed to high amounts of radioactivity, a person experiences all
kinds of injuries, from burns to cell mutation. When a lot of people die of something, the media
tends to talk about it -- for example, when there's a plane crash, everyone knows about
it. Then people are scared to fly. It's the same with radioactivity: When
something bad happens with it, people get scared of it. But remember, just
because something has the potential to be deadly, doesn't mean it isn't a good
thing.
Works Cited:
"Killer Rays Target Breast Tumors", CBS News Washington, August 25, 2003
"Is Irradiated Meat Really Safe?", CBS New York, July 14, 2003
"Radiation Keeps Clogged Arteries Open: New Heart Disease Treatment", CBS News,
January 25, 2001
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