Tc-99m used for medicine
Advantages:
- Binds with red blood cells allowing tracing of blood flow and thus, detection of clots and other problems.
- Can be binded to glucose, enabling detection of regions of the body with high concentrations of glucose.
- Low radiation emission limits damage to cells in the body when used and t hus, controls damage that can be done to the patient by radiation.
- Short radioactive half life of 6 hours means that there is limited time of radiation exposure and thus, less damage to the patient.
- Short biological half life of 1 day means that there is limited time of radiation exposure and Tc-99m is quickly removed from the body resulting in limited damage to the patient.
- Tc-99m is non-toxic and it also decays into a non-toxic element meaning that it is safe to use in the body.
Tc-99m-->Tc-99+gamma
Disadvantages:
- Short half life means that it cannot be transported long distances and thus, must be formed on site, requiring a generator.
- As it must be formed on site, it limits Tc-99m to only large hospitals such as Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney as the cost of required equipment is too high for small hospitals.
- Even though radiation exposure is limited, it is still radiation exposure and thus, can still damage cells in the body such as by ionising DNA molecules to result in cell defects and can even lead to more issues such as cancer.
I might write an industrial one later.