The Naked Scientists
  • Login
  • Register
  • Podcasts
      • The Naked Scientists
      • eLife
      • Naked Genetics
      • Naked Astronomy
      • In short
      • Naked Neuroscience
      • Ask! The Naked Scientists
      • Question of the Week
      • Archive
      • Video
      • SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
  • Articles
      • Science News
      • Features
      • Interviews
      • Answers to Science Questions
  • Get Naked
      • Donate
      • Do an Experiment
      • Science Forum
      • Ask a Question
  • About
      • Meet the team
      • Our Sponsors
      • Site Map
      • Contact us

User menu

  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Help
  • Search
  • Tags
  • Member Map
  • Recent Topics
  • Login
  • Register
  1. Naked Science Forum
  2. General Science
  3. General Science
  4. isotope potassium-40
« previous next »
  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Down

isotope potassium-40

  • 15 Replies
  • 1236 Views
  • 0 Tags

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline vdblnkr34 (OP)

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • 125
  • Activity:
    4.5%
  • Naked Science Forum Newbie
    • View Profile
isotope potassium-40
« on: 20/01/2022 01:03:24 »
About 70 years ago in Soviet Union lived a person. Who worked on a removal of radiation from metals.

He noticed that length of life of a human depend on how much radiation human body has. But the most interesting he said that our life shortened because of only one radioactive isotope on the planet, which is isotope potassium-40.

isotope potassium-40 is everywhere and in big amounts. The most isotope potassium-40 is in Bananas.

Now i hate bananas.  >:(

Does anyone knows any clues how to get rid of this from human body?
Logged
 



Online evan_au

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 10264
  • Activity:
    38.5%
  • Thanked: 1233 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #1 on: 20/01/2022 01:59:38 »
Potassium is an essential mineral, so you can't get rid of potassium from your diet.

Isotopic separation of Potassium 40 from normal potassium is enormously expensive - and growing all your food with isotopically pure Potassium would be ridiculously expensive. Not economic.

But the reality is that your body suffers many mutations in every cell, every second due to normal metabolism, so a few more due to the decay of Potassium 40 is not going to cause much more problems. Your body is actually quite good at repairing these DNA breaks - and recognizing when it can't, so the cell commits suicide (apoptosis).

If you are concerned about it, work out how much potassium you need, and don't eat more than 10x that amount.
- If you live in a granite area, ensure your basement is well-ventilated so it doesn't build up radon gas, as that can be more damaging than Potassium.
- Standard public health measures like regular exercise, avoiding tobacco, don't use excessive alcohol or other drugs and maintaining a healthy weight will improve your health probabilities.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_damage_(naturally_occurring)
Logged
 

Online Bored chemist

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 27294
  • Activity:
    100%
  • Thanked: 912 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #2 on: 20/01/2022 08:51:02 »
Quote from: vdblnkr34 on 20/01/2022 01:03:24
But the most interesting he said that our life shortened because of only one radioactive isotope on the planet, which is isotope potassium-40.
He's wrong.
Most of our radiation exposure comes from outside the body.

It's possible that the stress from worrying about misinformation about potassium (and not eating fruit) will do much more harm than the radiation.
Logged
Please disregard all previous signatures.
 

Offline alancalverd

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 14280
  • Activity:
    99%
  • Thanked: 1085 times
  • life is too short to drink instant coffee
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #3 on: 20/01/2022 20:48:54 »
Around 10% of your natural radiation dose comes from food, principally from K-40. The good news is that we evolved to cope with background radiation at up to 20 millisievert/year (UK background is 2 - 8 mSv/yr), and that potassium is essential, among other things, to keep your heart beating.   

The extrapolation of dose/harm statistics to very low doses is far from settled. It turns out in practice that people who live in moderately radioactive surroundings (Rocky mountains, average 15 - 20 mSv/yr) live slightly longer than matched controls living at the same altitude in the Appalachian mountains (3 - 5 mSv/yr). The effect is called hormesis and does have some logical basis, but I wouldn't recommend altering your diet one way or the other.   
Logged
helping to stem the tide of ignorance
 

Offline vdblnkr34 (OP)

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • 125
  • Activity:
    4.5%
  • Naked Science Forum Newbie
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #4 on: 24/01/2022 19:36:43 »
Yes, you are correct. But, i was taking about the effect of isotope inside the human body. Not outside in the surrounding environment. As an example, one particle of plutonium isotope will slowly kill you, while you can hold plutonium in your hand and nothing will happen.
« Last Edit: 24/01/2022 19:39:03 by vdblnkr34 »
Logged
 



Offline vdblnkr34 (OP)

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • 125
  • Activity:
    4.5%
  • Naked Science Forum Newbie
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #5 on: 24/01/2022 19:38:18 »
Jeff Bezos starting program to find immortality in a human. Can you believe that. Soon may we will find out what cause human leave shorter.
Logged
 

Online evan_au

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 10264
  • Activity:
    38.5%
  • Thanked: 1233 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #6 on: 24/01/2022 21:06:02 »
Quote from: vdblnkr34
you can hold plutonium in your hand and nothing will happen.
I heard of a nuclear-powered satellite that crashed in a snowy part of the world.
Some people found fragments of the plutonium thermoelectric generator, which remains warm, even in temperatures far below zero.
So they used it as a hand-warmer, and kept it in their coat pocket.
As I recall, it did not go well for them, but I can't find the story with Google  :(
Logged
 

Online Bored chemist

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 27294
  • Activity:
    100%
  • Thanked: 912 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #7 on: 24/01/2022 21:09:05 »
Quote from: vdblnkr34 on 24/01/2022 19:38:18
Jeff Bezos starting program to find immortality in a human.
The fact that he is rich does not indicate that he is clever.
Logged
Please disregard all previous signatures.
 

Offline alancalverd

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 14280
  • Activity:
    99%
  • Thanked: 1085 times
  • life is too short to drink instant coffee
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #8 on: 24/01/2022 22:10:05 »
Quote from: vdblnkr34 on 24/01/2022 19:36:43
Yes, you are correct. But, i was taking about the effect of isotope inside the human body. Not outside in the surrounding environment. As an example, one particle of plutonium isotope will slowly kill you, while you can hold plutonium in your hand and nothing will happen.
That's because plutonium is an alpha emitter, potassium is a gamma source. The range of Pu alphas is a few cell diameters so they do a huge amount of localised damage to living tissue if you ingest active particles, but very little harm to the dead epidermis. The range of gamma rays is much greater so they deposit much less energy in a given volume and there is less difference between internal and external radiation.

Anyway your annual radiation dose from food is about 0.3 millisievert, one tenth of the other major unavoidable  source, radon.

Note that the sievert unit accounts for the relative toxicity of the same dose of different radiations. The consensus ratio is about 20:1 for alpha to gamma but there is (thankfully) very little experimental data and I think the true value is closer to 200:1.
Logged
helping to stem the tide of ignorance
 



Offline alancalverd

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 14280
  • Activity:
    99%
  • Thanked: 1085 times
  • life is too short to drink instant coffee
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #9 on: 24/01/2022 22:11:24 »
Quote from: Bored chemist on 24/01/2022 21:09:05
Quote from: vdblnkr34 on 24/01/2022 19:38:18
Jeff Bezos starting program to find immortality in a human.
The fact that he is rich does not indicate that he is clever.
The number of stupid self-made billionaires is very small.
Logged
helping to stem the tide of ignorance
 

Online Bored chemist

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 27294
  • Activity:
    100%
  • Thanked: 912 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #10 on: 24/01/2022 22:47:11 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 24/01/2022 22:11:24
The number of stupid self-made billionaires is very small.
The number who got a quarter million leg up from the family may be somewhat bigger.
Logged
Please disregard all previous signatures.
 

Offline alancalverd

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 14280
  • Activity:
    99%
  • Thanked: 1085 times
  • life is too short to drink instant coffee
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #11 on: 25/01/2022 10:47:29 »
A very precise figure. My favorite is a handbag-designing millionairess who, according to the newspapers, started from scratch "with just a £250,000 loan from her dad".

But Bezos is a real entrepreneur with a real degree in engineering. 

My favorite quote from a world gliding champion: "I was lucky. I work hard to be lucky."
Logged
helping to stem the tide of ignorance
 

Online Bored chemist

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 27294
  • Activity:
    100%
  • Thanked: 912 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #12 on: 25/01/2022 11:13:56 »
Trump- who went bankrupt a few times- is famous for starting with " a small loan of a million dollars from his father."
That would have been sometime around 1965 when a million dollars was a lot of money.
Bezos started with $300,000 from his parents
Musk's dad owned shares in an emerald mine.

Self made billionaires are so rare that it's hard to say anything about their intelligence.

However, most billionaires probably have more sense than to handle plutonium.
Logged
Please disregard all previous signatures.
 



Offline alancalverd

  • Global Moderator
  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • ********
  • 14280
  • Activity:
    99%
  • Thanked: 1085 times
  • life is too short to drink instant coffee
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #13 on: 26/01/2022 20:52:02 »
Quote from: Bored chemist on 25/01/2022 11:13:56
Bezos started with $300,000 from his parents
Musk's dad owned shares in an emerald mine.
Suggesting that at least someone in the family line had made a load of money without being given it. Unless you believe in financial creationism?
Logged
helping to stem the tide of ignorance
 

Online Bored chemist

  • Naked Science Forum GOD!
  • *******
  • 27294
  • Activity:
    100%
  • Thanked: 912 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #14 on: 26/01/2022 21:31:24 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 26/01/2022 20:52:02
Unless you believe in financial creationism?
Of course I believe in it, they call it "quantitative easing".


Quote from: alancalverd on 26/01/2022 20:52:02
Suggesting that at least someone in the family line had made a load of money without being given it.
Well, they made quite a lot of money- or they were given it - possibly inherited from someone who made it unethically.
We simply don't know.
But the point stands; the people who make a lot of money seldom start from "rags" and luck may be as big a feature as brains.
Logged
Please disregard all previous signatures.
 

Offline wolfekeeper

  • Naked Science Forum King!
  • ******
  • 1622
  • Activity:
    1.5%
  • Thanked: 75 times
    • View Profile
Re: isotope potassium-40
« Reply #15 on: 26/01/2022 23:32:45 »
Quote from: evan_au on 24/01/2022 21:06:02
Quote from: vdblnkr34
you can hold plutonium in your hand and nothing will happen.
I heard of a nuclear-powered satellite that crashed in a snowy part of the world.
Some people found fragments of the plutonium thermoelectric generator, which remains warm, even in temperatures far below zero.
So they used it as a hand-warmer, and kept it in their coat pocket.
As I recall, it did not go well for them, but I can't find the story with Google  :(
I don't think that's ever happened, specifically, but Russia deployed around a thousand thermoelectric generators for stuff like unattended in lighthouses. Many of them have gone missing; some woodsmen did find one that had lost its shielding:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator#Theft

e.g.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lia_radiological_accident
It went about as well as you'd think.
« Last Edit: 26/01/2022 23:35:30 by wolfekeeper »
Logged
 



  • Print
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »
Tags:
 

Similar topics (5)

Concentrated potassium ions injection into extracellular space of an animal!!

Started by r101Board Physiology & Medicine

Replies: 0
Views: 3212
Last post 17/10/2010 14:26:54
by r101
How to prepare a dry pure sample of potassium sulfate crystals and the indicator

Started by hxha5Board Chemistry

Replies: 0
Views: 3076
Last post 05/05/2020 08:44:27
by hxha5
Can potassium and sodium hydroxide (KOH and NaOH) react with glass?

Started by lightarrowBoard Chemistry

Replies: 16
Views: 47152
Last post 30/03/2011 12:33:58
by lightarrow
Can you measure the amount of silica in potassium hydroxide solution?

Started by thedocBoard Chemistry

Replies: 1
Views: 3763
Last post 01/08/2012 18:49:05
by distimpson
which element that has more powerful flame temperature.. .potassium or magnesium

Started by tareggBoard Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology

Replies: 7
Views: 6711
Last post 05/07/2014 12:37:56
by Bored chemist
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
  • SMF 2.0.15 | SMF © 2017, Simple Machines
    Privacy Policy
    SMFAds for Free Forums
  • Naked Science Forum ©

Page created in 0.146 seconds with 71 queries.

  • Podcasts
  • Articles
  • Get Naked
  • About
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to newsletter
  • We love feedback

Follow us

cambridge_logo_footer.png

©The Naked Scientists® 2000–2017 | The Naked Scientists® and Naked Science® are registered trademarks created by Dr Chris Smith. Information presented on this website is the opinion of the individual contributors and does not reflect the general views of the administrators, editors, moderators, sponsors, Cambridge University or the public at large.