Radium may be bioconcentrated and bioaccumulated by plants and animals, and it is transferred through food chains from lower trophic levels to humans. Radium does not degrade other than by radioactive decay at rates which are specific to each of four naturally occurring isotopes. In addition, radium is constantly being produced by the radioactive decay of its precursors, uranium and thorium. The concentration of radium in natural water is usually controlled by adsorption–desorption reactions with minerals and rocks and by the solubility of radium-containing minerals.
The utilization of radium, uranium, and fossil fuels has resulted in the redistribution of radium in the environment by way of air, water, and land releases. Radium is almost ubiquitous in soils, water, geologic materials, plants, and foods at low concentrations. Gad, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Second Edition), 2005 Ecotoxicology Radium is not metabolized by the body it only decays radiologically over time. Radium is like calcium in that it deposits in bones and teeth when taken into body. Intentional uses of radium today are primarily in the treatment of cancer using a radiation source and as a neutron source in research and instrument calibration. Virtually everyone is exposed to low levels of radium in inhaled air and ingested water and food. The radioactive properties of radium are the greatest concern and overwhelm all else.
Radium is a silvery-white radioactive metal found in most soils and rocks, although usually present in small quantities. Radium, CASRN, has a particularly interesting history it was isolated from pitchblende by the Curies in 1898, who in 1903 jointly won the Nobel Prize in physics for their studies of radiation. Gad, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Third Edition), 2014 Abstract
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