Isotopes of Iodine

Isotopes Of Iodine

There are 37 known isotopes of iodine (I) from 108I to 144I, but only one, 127I, is stable. Iodine is thus a monoisotopic element.

Its longest-lived radioactive isotope, 129I, has a half-life of 15.7 million years, which is far too short for it to exist as a primordial nuclide. Cosmogenic sources of 129I produce very tiny quantities of it that are too small to affect atomic weight measurements; iodine is thus also a mononuclidic element—one that is found in nature essentially as a single nuclide. Most 129I derived radioactivity on Earth is man-made: an unwanted long-lived byproduct of early nuclear tests and nuclear fission accidents.

All other iodine radioisotopes have half-lives less than 60 days, and four of these are used as tracers and therapeutic agents in medicine. These are 123I, 124I, 125I, and 131I. Essentially all industrial production of radioactive iodine isotopes involves these four useful radionuclides.

The isotope 135I has a half-life less than seven hours, which is too short to be used in biology. Unavoidable in situ production of this isotope is important in nuclear reactor control, as it decays to 135Xe, the most powerful known neutron absorber, and the nuclide responsible for the so-called iodine pit phenomenon.

In addition to commercial production, 131I (half life 8 days) is the most common radioactive fission-product of nuclear fission, and is thus produced inadvertently in very large amounts inside nuclear reactors. Due to its volatility, short half life, and high abundance in fission products, 131I, (along with the short-lived iodine isotope 132I from the longer-lived 132Te with a half life of 3 days) is responsible for the largest part of radioactive contamination during the first week after accidental environmental contamination from the radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant.

The standard atomic mass for iodine is 126.90447(3) u.