What Are the Benefits of Radon?

Of all the elements on the periodic table, radon is one of the most difficult to love. It's a radioactive gas formed by the decay of heavier elements like uranium, and according to the EPA it causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. Despite its formidable reputation, however, radon does have a few benefits in science and technology. Remember, however, that radon is a hazardous gas, and it's never something you should attempt to use yourself.

Radiotherapy

• Hospitals used to store radon in minute tubes, then use these tubes or seeds to provide a specified dose of radiation to a tumor during cancer treatment. According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory page on radon, some hospitals still do so. Since many other radioactive elements are available for the same purpose, however, this is an uncommon application.

Earthquakes

• Some scientists have sought to show that changes in radon concentrations could provide advance warning of some earthquakes. Since uranium-bearing rocks and minerals in Earth's crust release radon as the uranium decays, a shifting fault might create new openings in the ground and allow more radon to seep through to the surface. Past studies like a 2008 paper in "Applied Radiation and Isotopes" tried to link changes in radon levels to seismic activity. Success in this area has been modest at best, however, and as noted in a 2009 article in "Earth," earthquakes remain difficult if not impossible to predict with any level of certainty.

Atmosphere

• Some scientists use radon to help study wind and climate patterns. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, air masses that have been in recent contact with the land will have higher radon levels than air masses from out at sea, allowing scientists to use radon concentrations to follow the path of some air masses. Although this is only one kind of data out of many that scientists can use to study climate, it is occasionally useful.