CHAPTER 6 



PROPERTIES AND PROCEDURES FOR 

 INDIVIDUAL RADIOISOTOPES 



It is the intention in this chapter to present in concise form information 

 that will enable the reader (a) to determine whether or not a given radio- 

 isotope can be used for a particnlar study, and {b) to get an idea of the 

 procedures, equipment, and analytical precautions that will be required. 

 Although the numerical values have been compiled with reasonable care, 

 they should not be looked upon as standards, since the primary purpose 

 is only to present data to allow decisions as to levels and methods that 

 can be used. For brevity, complete documentation is not given, and 

 unsupported statements in regard to naturally occurring levels of the 

 element and pharmacological data will usually have been derived from 

 the general references that are credited in this introductory statement. 

 Consideration is given almost entirely to preparations available from the 

 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the listing is alphabetical, with the 

 properties as described in the "Catalog and Price List" of the Oak Ridge 

 National Laboratory. However, much of the general information will 

 be applicable for radioisotopes produced in other countries. 



The half-life is given in parentheses following the designation of the 

 radioisotope. The beta and gamma energies are hsted in milUons of elec- 

 tron volts (Mev), and only the lowest- and highest-energy gamma rays 

 are given; IT represents isomeric transition, and K denotes electron capture 

 from the K shell. The current Catalog number is given and when fol- 

 lowed by an I designates an irradiated unit which is an unprocessed irra- 

 diated target; the letter P designates a processed radioisotope which has 

 usually been purified. The specific activity is given for the day of ship- 

 ment in terms of activity per unit mass, usually millicuries per gram of 

 element (mc/g). The term carrier-free (CF) is used to indicate that no 

 carrier has been added and that all or nearly all the atoms of the element 

 are atoms of the particular radioisotope. The cost is given in terms of, 

 and therefore serves to indicate, the amount of activity present in an irra- 

 diated unit. For the processed unit the cost is given in terms of millicu- 

 ries (mc) or microcuries (^uc). Costs may change in time, but they have 

 been included to give some idea of the scale of experiments that are fea- 



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