How varied are the types of radiation that different radionuclides emit?
Radionuclides can emit several types of radiation (e.g., gamma rays, beta or alpha particles). Each radionuclide emits its own unique mixture of radiations; indeed, scientists identify radioactive materials by using these unique mixtures as if they were fingerprints. The mix of radiations for a specific radionuclide is always the same, regardless of whether the radionuclide is located on a bench in a physicist’s laboratory or inside the human body. This means that the type of radiation of each radionuclide can be measured outside the body with great precision by laboratory instruments. A quality factor, discussed earlier, is used to adjust for the difference in the biological effects of different types of radiation.
