Why Is Cobalt Used In Radiotherapy?

The main reason for its wide use in radiotherapy is that it has a longer half-life, 5.27 years, than many other gamma emitters. However, this half-life still requires cobalt sources to be replaced about every 5 years.

How is cobalt used in radiotherapy?

Cobalt-60 systems, like the Gamma Knife, deliver radiation beams through 192 circular pinholes in a fixed helmet worn by the patient. The pinhole radiation meets at the tumor site, delivering a high dose, while the surrounding healthy tissue and critical brain structures receive minimal radiation.

Why cobalt is used in the treatment of cancer?

It is Teletherapy equipment which is used for the treatment of various type of cancers. Here artificial radioactive substance Cobalt-60 is used which emits gamma radiation. With the help of this radiation that cancer cells are destroyed.

Is cobalt still used to treat cancer?

Cobalt-60 technology is currently used to treat roughly 70 per cent of the world’s cancer cases treated by radiation.

What are the benefits of using cobalt?

Classified by the EU and the US as a Critical Raw Material, cobalt is recognized as an important technology-enabling metal where energy storage, high temperature resilience, hardness, process efficiency and environmental benefits are required.

What are the side effects of cobalt radiation?

Because it decays by gamma radiation, external exposure to large sources of Co-60 can cause skin burns, acute radiation sickness, or death. Most Co-60 that is ingested is excreted in the feces; however, a small amount is absorbed by the liver, kidneys, and bones.

Why is cobalt-60 a good source of gamma rays?

Cobalt-60 (60Co) and caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) are the most widely used sources of gamma radiation. Co produces gamma rays with energies of 1.173 and 1.332 MeV and has a half-life of 5.27 years, whereas ¹³⁷Cs produces gamma rays with an energy of 0.662 MeV and has a longer half-life of 30.1 years.

Why is cobalt used for external radiotherapy instead of alpha radiation?

The main reason for its wide use in radiotherapy is that it has a longer half-life, 5.27 years, than many other gamma emitters. However, this half-life still requires cobalt sources to be replaced about every 5 years.

Why is cobalt so controversial?

The DRC supplies about 70 percent of the world’s Cobalt, but 80% of its industrial cobalt mines are owned or financed by Chinese companies. This dynamic has disproportionately favored China and has led to hostility among the Congolese government and its domestic mining companies.

What cancers are treated by cobalt-60?

Cobalt 60 (60Co) is often the ideal mode of radiation for treating laryngeal cancer.

What kind of cancer does cobalt cause?

Increased mortality from lung cancer has been found among workers in the hard metal industry [10]. In addition to cobalt, hard metal also contains tungsten carbide.

What are the dangers of cobalt?

It can harm the eyes, skin, heart, and lungs. Exposure to cobalt may cause cancer. Workers may be harmed from exposure to cobalt and cobalt-containing products. The level of harm depends upon the dose, duration, and work being done.

Can cobalt be removed from the body?

In the rare case that you have large levels of cobalt in your blood, you may need hemodialysis (kidney machine) and get medicines (antidotes) to reverse the effects of the poison.

What vegetables are high in cobalt?

Good food sources of cobalt include: fish. nuts. green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach.

Where do we get cobalt from?

Cobalt is obtained from the following three main types of ore deposits: (1) sedimenthosted stratiform copper deposits, such as those in the central African copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia; (2) magmatic nickel sulfide deposits, such those found at Sudbury, Canada, and at Norilsk,

How long does cobalt stay in the body?

Elevated blood levels of cobalt and chromium ions can persist for at least 1 year after revision, especially in patients with high levels of exposure.

Is radiotherapy worse than chemo?

Radiation therapy involves giving high doses of radiation beams directly into a tumor. The radiation beams change the DNA makeup of the tumor, causing it to shrink or die. This type of cancer treatment has fewer side effects than chemotherapy since it only targets one area of the body.

What are the worst side effects of radiotherapy?

Healthy cells that are damaged during radiation treatment usually recover within a few months after treatment is over. But sometimes people may have side effects that do not improve.

• Diarrhea.
• Fatigue.
• Hair loss.
• Sexual problems (men)
• Fertility problems (men)
• Sexual problems (women)
• Fertility problems (women)
• Skin changes.

Does cobalt cause dementia?

Chromium and cobalt toxicity may have caused permanent but unchanging brain damage in the patients, which in turn may have caused the cognitive problems. Alternatively, metal poisoning may have triggered early onset dementia in these patients.

What is the most radioactive thing on earth?

The radioactivity of radium then must be enormous. This substance is the most radioactive natural element, a million times more so than uranium.

Is cobalt-60 natural or man made?

Cobalt-60 is not found in nature. It is a synthetic radioactive isotope made by neutron activation of Cobalt-59. Cobalt-60 is produced off site in nuclear reactors and transported in special shipping containers (casks) to the sterilization facility.