Radioactive Tracer - Methodology

Methodology

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 at top 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

• 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.
• 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.