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Cesium Poisoning

Cesium is a light, silver colored alkali metal sometimes found in the earth's soil and rocks. Certain variants of cesium can pose a lethal poison danger, but most people will never come in contact with this substance.

  1. Significance

    • Not much cesium occurs in nature. The US does not produce cesium at all, nor does it have many uses for the element, so most people should not worry about cesium poisoning.

    Effects

    • People suffering from cesium poisoning are likely to receive burns and eye irritation.

    Interesting Fact

    • In 1987, a radioactive isotope of cesium, cesium-137, caused illness in hundreds of people in Goiania, Brazil after workers disassembled a cancer-therapy machine and unwisely took the glowing, bluish cesium-137 as an interesting souvenir. After this incident, Brazil declared stricter disposal laws for radioactive materials.

    Potential

    • Security analysts consider radioactive cesium-137 a likely material for an improvised nuclear weapon. Cesium-137 releases very powerful gamma radiation that can pass through lead plating.

    Treatment

    • Usually, the body can excrete most cesium through urination. In more serious cases, doctors will prescribe Prussian blue, which causes the body to excrete cesium through fecal matter.

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