In reply to leaking pen's message of Mon, 8 Dec 2008 14:29:34 -0700: Hi, [snip] >alpha's are generally pretty tame. large sources of alpha can cause >skin damage, but thats about as deep as it gets. Same with beta. Its >the gamma that are a big issue. gamma goes through everything, alpha >and beta get blocked by just about everything.
This is largely true when the source of radiation is outside the body, but a very different story when the source is part of your body chemistry. Radioactive iron in particular would be a problem, because it gets taken up as part of the haemoglobin in your blood, and transported to every nook and cranny. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
