Carbon-14

Agent Name
Carbon-14
CAS Number
14762-75-5
Formula
C4
Major Category
Physical/Radiation
Category
Radionuclides
Description
Black solid;
Sources/Uses
Naturally occurring in the earth's atmosphere (transmutation of nitrogen by cosmic rays) and produced by reactor irradiation of calcium nitrate; Used in geology and archeology for carbon dating; [Hawley] Also used in thickness gauges for thin coatings and in medicine as a biochemical tracer (detect breast cancer and study drug metabolism); [Waltar]
Comments
Half-Life: 5730 years
Effective Half-Life: 12 days
Specific Activity: 4.5 Ci/g
Decay Mode: Beta
Critical Organ: Total body
Internal Toxicity: Moderate
Annual Limit on Intake: 2 mCi
Radiation Energy (MeV): Beta 0.1561 (100%)
[See Glossary for references.] See "Radiation, ionizing."
Biomedical References

Diseases, Processes, and Activities Linked to This Agent

Other Information
No other related information on this agent was found.