Radioactive Tracer: Language Watch Edit

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Radioactive tracer
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A radioactive tracer, radiotracer, or radioactive label, is a chemical
compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by
a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore
the mechanism of chemical reactions by tracing the path that the
radioisotope follows from reactants to
products. Radiolabeling or radiotracing is thus the radioactive form
of isotopic labeling.
Radioisotopes of hydrogen, carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, and iodine have been
used extensively to trace the path of biochemical reactions. A radioactive
tracer can also be used to track the distribution of a substance within a
natural system such as a cell or tissue,[1] or as a flow tracer to track fluid
flow. Radioactive tracers are also used to determine the location of fractures
created by hydraulic fracturing in natural gas production.[2] Radioactive
tracers form the basis of a variety of imaging systems, such as, PET
scans, SPECT scans and technetium scans. Radiocarbon dating uses the
naturally occurring carbon-14 isotope as an isotopic label.
MethodologyEdit
Isotopes of a chemical element differ only in the mass number. For example,
the isotopes of hydrogen can be written as 1H, 2H and 3H, with the mass
number superscripted to the left. When the atomic nucleus of an isotope is
unstable, compounds containing this isotope are radioactive. Tritium is an
example of a radioactive isotope.
The principle behind the use of radioactive tracers is that an atom in
a chemical compound is replaced by another atom, of the same chemical
element. The substituting atom, however, is a radioactive isotope. This
process is often called radioactive labeling. The power of the technique is
due to the fact that radioactive decay is much more energetic than chemical
reactions. Therefore, the radioactive isotope can be present in low
concentration and its presence detected by sensitive radiation
detectors such as Geiger counters and scintillation counters. George de
Hevesy won the 1943 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his work on the use of
isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes".
There are two main ways in which radioactive tracers are used
1. When a labeled chemical compound undergoes chemical reactions one or

more of the products will contain the radioactive label. Analysis of what happens to
the radioactive isotope provides detailed information on the mechanism of the
chemical reaction.
2. A radioactive compound is introduced into a living organism and the radio-
isotope provides a means to construct an image showing the way in which that
compound and its reaction products are distributed around the organism.
ProductionEdit
The commonly used radioisotopes have short half lives and so do not occur
in nature. They are produced by nuclear reactions. One of the most
important processes is absorption of a neutron by an atomic nucleus, in
which the mass number of the element concerned increases by 1 for each
neutron absorbed. For example,
13
C + n → 14C
In this case the atomic mass increases, but the element is unchanged. In
other cases the product nucleus is unstable and decays, typically emitting
protons, electrons (beta particle) or alpha particles. When a nucleus loses a
proton the atomic number decreases by 1. For example,
32
S + n → 32P + p
Neutron irradiation is performed in a nuclear reactor. The other main method

used to synthesize radioisotopes is proton bombardment. The proton are
accelerated to high energy either in a cyclotron or a linear accelerator.[3]
Tracer isotopesEdit
HydrogenEdit
Tritium is produced by neutron irradiation of 6Li
6
Li + n → 4He + 3H
Tritium has a half-life 4,500±8 days (approximately 12.32 years),[4] and it

decays by beta decay. The electrons produced have an average energy of
5.7 keV. Because the emitted electrons have relatively low energy, the
detection efficiency by scintillation counting is rather low. However,
hydrogen atoms are present in all organic compounds, so tritium is
frequently used as a tracer in biochemical studies.
CarbonEdit
11
C decays by positron emission with a half-life of ca. 20 min. 11C is one of the
isotopes often used in positron emission tomography.[3]
14
C decays by beta-decay, with a half-life of 5730 y. It is continuously
produced in the upper atmosphere of the earth so it occurs at a trace level in
the environment. However, it is not practical to use naturally-occurring 14C for
tracer studies. Instead it is made by neutron irradiation of the
isotope 13C which occurs naturally in carbon at about the 1.1% level. 14C has
been used extensively to trace the progress of organic molecules through
metabolic pathways.[5]
NitrogenEdit
N decays by positron emission with a half-life of 9.97 min. It is produced by
13
the nuclear reaction

H + 16O → 13N + 4He
1
N is used in positron emission tomography (PET scan).

13
OxygenEdit
O decays by positron emission with a half-life of 122 sec. It is used in
15
positron emission tomography.

FluorineEdit
F decays by emission with a half-life of 109 min. It is made by proton
18
bombardment of 18O in a cyclotron or linear particle accelerator. It is an

important isotope in the radiopharmaceutical industry. It is used to make
labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for application in PET scans.[3]
PhosphorusEdit
P is made by neutron bombardment of 32S
32
32
S + n → 32P + p
It decays by beta decay with a half-life of 14.29 days. It is commonly used to

study protein phosphorylation by kinases in biochemistry.
33
P is made in relatively low yield by neutron bombardment of 31P. It is also a
beta-emitter, with a half-life of 25.4 days. Though more expensive than 32P,
the emitted electrons are less energetic, permitting better resolution in, for
example, DNA sequencing.
Both isotopes are useful for labeling nucleotides and other species that
contain a phosphate group.
SulfurEdit
S is made by neutron bombardment of 35Cl
35
35
Cl + n → 35S + p
It decays by beta-decay with a half-life of 87.51 days. It is used to label the

sulfur-containing amino-acids methionine and cysteine. When a sulfur atom
replaces an oxygen atom in a phosphate group on
a nucleotide a thiophosphate is produced, so 35S can also be used to trace a
phosphate group.
TechnetiumEdit
Main article: technetium-99m
Tc is a very versatile radioisotope, and is the most commonly used

99m
radioisotope tracer in medicine. It is easy to produce in a technetium-99m

generator, by decay of 99Mo.
99
Mo → 99mTc +
e−
+
ν
e
The molybdenum isotope has a half-life of approximately 66 hours (2.75

days), so the generator has a useful life of about two weeks. Most
commercial 99mTc generators use column chromatography, in which 99Mo in
the form of molybdate, MoO42− is adsorbed onto acid alumina (Al2O3). When
the 99Mo decays it forms pertechnetate TcO4−, which because of its single
charge is less tightly bound to the alumina. Pulling normal saline solution
through the column of immobilized 99Mo elutes the soluble 99mTc, resulting in a
saline solution containing the 99mTc as the dissolved sodium salt of the
pertechnetate. The pertechnetate is treated with a reducing agent such
as Sn2+ and a ligand. Different ligands form coordination complexes which give
the technetium enhanced affinity for particular sites in the human body.
99m
Tc decays by gamma emission, with a half-life: 6.01 hours. The short half-
life ensures that the body-concentration of the radioisotope falls effectively
to zero in a few days.
IodineEdit
Main article: Isotopes of iodine
123
I is produced by proton irradiation of 124Xe. The caesium isotope produced is
unstable and decays to 123I. The isotope is usually supplied as the iodide and
hypoiodate in dilute sodium hydroxide solution, at high isotopic purity.[6] 123I
has also been produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratories by proton
bombardment of 123Te.[7]
123
I decays by electron capture with a half-life of 13.22 hours. The emitted
159 keV gamma ray is used in single photon emission computed
tomography (SPECT). A 127 keV gamma ray is also emitted.
125
I is frequently used in radioimmunoassays because of its relatively long
half-life (59 days) and ability to be detected with high sensitivity by gamma
counters.[8]
129
I is present in the environment as a result of the testing of nuclear
weapons in the atmosphere. It was also produced in
the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. 129I decays with a half-life of 15.7
million years, with low-energy beta and gamma emissions. It is not used as a
tracer, though its presence in living organisms, including human beings, can
be characterized by measurement of the gamma rays.
Other isotopesEdit
Main article: radiopharmacology
Many other isotopes have been used in specialized radiopharmacological

studies. The most widely used is 67Ga for gallium scans. 67Ga is used because,
like 99mTc, it is a gamma-ray emitter and various ligands can be attached to
the Ga3+ ion, forming a coordination complex which may have selective
affinity for particular sites in the human body.
An extensive list of radioactive tracers used in hydraulic fracturing can be
found below.
ApplicationEdit
See also: Nuclear medicine, List of PET radiotracers, and Radionuclides associated with
hydraulic fracturing
In metabolism research, Tritium and 14C-labeled glucose are commonly used

in glucose clamps to measure rates of glucose uptake, fatty acid synthesis,
and other metabolic processes.[9] While radioactive tracers are sometimes
still used in human studies, stable isotope tracers such as 13C are more
commonly used in current human clamp studies. Radioactive tracers are also
used to study lipoprotein metabolism in humans and experimental animals.
[10]
In medicine, tracers are applied in a number of tests, such
as 99mTc in autoradiography and nuclear medicine, including single photon
emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission
tomography (PET) and scintigraphy. The urea breath test for helicobacter
pylori commonly used a dose of 14C labeled urea to detect h. pylori infection.
If the labeled urea was metabolized by h. pylori in the stomach, the patient's
breath would contain labeled carbon dioxide. In recent years, the use of
substances enriched in the non-radioactive isotope 13C has become the
preferred method, avoiding patient exposure to radioactivity.[11]
In hydraulic fracturing, radioactive tracer isotopes are injected with hydraulic
fracturing fluid to determine the injection profile and location of created
fractures.[2] Tracers with different half-lives are used for each stage of
hydraulic fracturing. In the United States amounts per injection of
radionuclide are listed in the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
guidelines.[12] According to the NRC, some of the most commonly used
tracers include antimony-124, bromine-82, iodine-125, iodine-131, iridium-
192, and scandium-46.[12] A 2003 publication by the International Atomic
Energy Agency confirms the frequent use of most of the tracers above, and
says that manganese-56, sodium-24, technetium-99m, silver-110m, argon-
41, and xenon-133 are also used extensively because they are easily
identified and measured.[13]
References
External links
Last edited 1 month ago by an anonymous user
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1. When a labeled chemical compound undergoes chemical reactions one or

Neutron irradiation is performed in a nuclear reactor. The other main method

Tritium has a half-life 4,500±8 days (approximately 12.32 years),[4] and it

the nuclear reaction

N is used in positron emission tomography (PET scan).

positron emission tomography.

bombardment of 18O in a cyclotron or linear particle accelerator. It is an

It decays by beta decay with a half-life of 14.29 days. It is commonly used to

It decays by beta-decay with a half-life of 87.51 days. It is used to label the

Tc is a very versatile radioisotope, and is the most commonly used

radioisotope tracer in medicine. It is easy to produce in a technetium-99m

The molybdenum isotope has a half-life of approximately 66 hours (2.75

Many other isotopes have been used in specialized radiopharmacological

In metabolism research, Tritium and 14C-labeled glucose are commonly used

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.

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