In: Chemistry
1.What would be a result of ionizing radiation traveling through biological tissue?
a) Why does the body incorporate radium into bone tissue?
b)Why is crumbling bone a symptom of radium poisoning?
Part 1
Ionizing radiations are particularly harmful for the body because they are very high in energy. When they pass through the tissues, they distribute their high energy in a very random way, meaning atoms/molecules that collide with the radiations are transferred amounts of energy that is significant enough to result in an excitation, viz the removal of an electron or even a complete atom. If such radiation happens to strike a biologically critical molecule like the DNA, it could have long lasting effects due to the generation of mutation (because the DNA structure is changed).
Part a and b
Radium is chemically similar to Calcium. This fact can be verified by having a look at the periodic table. Radium is located 2 places below Calcium (or Radium is present in the same group as Calcium). This basically means that Radium can perform reactions in a manner similar to that of Calcium, which fools the body into thinking that Radium is actually Calcium, which further leads to the accumulation of Radium into the bones. (This happens because the process of Ca removal and deposition on the bone is a continuous process. Radium can be mistaken for Calcium and be deposited onto the Bone)
As Radium is radioactive, it damages the marrow and can even mutate the bone cells. This leads to a decrease in the stability of the structure, which can lead to the crumbling of the bones.
I hope this has helped. Please do let me know in case the answer is unclear. Feel free to leave a comment. I will be more than glad to help you out.