WHY IT IS DEAR

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 141, 12 December 1923, Page 9

WHY IT IS DEAR

QUEST FOR RADIUM

MINUTE TRACES DETECTED

THE EMANATION.—ITS RATE OF DECAI.

Radium exists to-day in very small parcels, commanding very big prices. A great amount of ore has to be treated to obtain a trace of Radium. That is' one reason, and the .main reason, why people must co-operate in big units of population in order to obtain Radium treatment. j What is the smallest amount of Radium that can be detected? To appreciate the answer to the question it has to be remembered that the pound avoirdupois contains 7000 grains. Here is the answer, as given by Dr. H. M. Mora'n in the "Australian Nurses' Journal " : "One-fiithy-millionth part of a milligramme— thftt is to say, one-three-thous-ane-millionth part of a grain—can be detected easily, while with special care one-tenth of this amount can be recognised."

Dr. Moran remarks that a. gramme (that, is, a thousand milligrammes) of Radium costs about £16,000, a nd " there is not that amount in the whole of Australia." COLORADO AND CONGO. If so, Australia cannot be regarded as being in the van of Radium progress. According to a paper on " Science," the United States possesses 150 grammes of Uadium. But the "United States (to be exact, Colorado) was the home of Ra-dium-mining before the Belgian Congo wrested the palm. The Colorado mines are said to have been closed down because the Congo has a cheaper cost of production. According to "Science," in Colorado "some 200 tj 400 tons of ore had .to be treated to produe one gramme of Radium, there being only about 2 per cent, of uranium oxide in the ore, and only one part of Radium to 3,200,000 parts of uranium." If the Congo can produce Eadium much cheaper than Colorado, the Congo ore is apparently much richer in Radium than the Colorado ore, because the Congo product is saddled with heavy transport costs. It has to be transported about 2000 miles down the Congo River, then across the ocean to Antwerp, and thence by rail to Oolen, i n Belgium, where treatment of the or e takes place. Apparently this costly, transport is deemed to be better than endeavouring to treat the ore in the heart of Africa. Yet, in spite of the transport, Congo Radium can, it is stated, undersell the American product by a large margin. The Journal of the Rontgen Society says that the current price of Radium is "the lowest on record."

Otago paid £23 per milligramme for the Radium now in use in Dunedin, and tho^price quoted to-day: to the Radium (Radiation) Appeal Committee is £17 per milligramme, .including emanation outfit and expert instruction. The Congo Radium find, according to the- Journal," remained a war secret in Belgium (Administrator of the Congo) throughout the Great War. The ConU ■oro deposits were discovered near Eliz°abethville in 1913. Before commercial operations could .be begun the war broke out, and ."prevented the exploration and development r Q f the Radium 1 properties.- :The outcome .of the war could not be accurately predicted; hence the Belgians endeavoured to keep their discoveries thinking that should the war be lost they, might rstll control the output of Radium. After the war," the company recruited its staff, ■ and-'Wan development. The policy of secrecy was maintained, however, and no announcement was published until the largest plant m the world for the treatment of Radium 'ore had been completed at " STRICT RATIO " TO PARENT ELEMENT. Interesting information concerning the emanation (or gas) of Radium appears m "The Radium- Therapist," which states that the employment of Radium emanation as a therapeutic agent is steadily increasing, and its field of usefulness broadens from day to day, as its merits and advantages become more widely recognised. The manipulation of the emanation is a highly technical process, and necessitates the attention and services, of a staff :.ot specially trained physicists, whese measurements of its I initial radio-activity and its subsequent variations can be relied on absolutely Ihere is further the fact that the emanation can only be obtained from solutions of Radium salts; the quantity is limited, and bears a strict ratio to the amount of the parent salt. A.gramme )f Kadium bromide in solution will furnish a daily output of Radium emanation possessing a radio-activity equivalent to ■that of 150 i milligrammes (three-twenti-eths, or .15 of a gramme) of. Radium bromide. This emanation slowly decays its initial radio-activity being reduced to one-half in 3.85 days, and to one-fifth in 8.8 days. During the first twentyfour hours the loss, is exactly 16 per cent. (2 per cent, every three hours). I his rate of decay never varies, and it is thus a perfectly simple matter to prepare an apparatus the mean activity of which, during a period of twenty-four hours, would be exactly equivalent to that of a Radium salt apparatus of a stated strength. Radium itself is calculated to have a life of at least 2000 years. ■ - ■ - .

. According to "The Radium Therapist," "at least two grammes of Radium are,necessary for the production of emanation in sufficient quantity to treat even a modest number of patients daily." Radium has been quoted to the Wellington' Hospital Board at £16,000 per gramme jincluding emanation outfit, etc.). Therefore, as the amount of emanation depends upon the amount of -Radium, it is obvious that every town cannot have a sufficient quantity of Radium, and that to equip the Radium department at Wellington Hospital with sufficient Radium to distribute emanation will need a liberal subscription by people in the-country as well as people in this city. . .' "It is obvious," says " The Radium Therapist," " that the handling of Radium emanation in a really adequate manner can only be undertaken at hospitals or institutions which are in a position to incur a very large capital charge in acquiring the requisite amount of Radium salt; and on this account unless the price of Radium falls very considerably, it appears highly probable that emanation work will for a long time be limited almost exclusively to those institutions which already have a lar<*e amount of Radium and a specially trained staff."

Th e cost of providing enough Radium to supply sufficient emanation, and the cost of providing a modern apparatus for deep X-ray therapy, make it certain that at present Radiation is.not a treatment adaptable to small. units on populiti-n The country districts' bjst chance "of

securing emanation is through the proposed Radium department at Wellington Hospital, and the purchase for that department of a substantial amount of Radium, part of it in solution (to provide emanation), and part of it as Radium salt. CLASSIFICATION OF RAYS. The question is often asked: "What are the rays that are the outward manifestation of the energy of Radium?" Sir Ernest Rutherford classified the rays into three main types—viz., alpha, beta, and gamma rays. Each of these types of rays is itself complex. The beta rays are one hundred times more penetrating than the alpha rays, while the gamma rays are one hundred times more penetrating than the beta rays. The alpha rays are completely absorbed by a sheet of paper, and they produce but'little action on a photographic plate. The beta rays will pass through a visiting card or a piece of tinfoil with ease. The gamma rays, if placed in a box of steel half an inch thick, and if a platinocyanide crystal is placed on top of the box, will make the crystal fluoresce. The nature of the gamma radiation has not been satisfactorily determined, but it is considered by most physicists to be analogous to the hardest cathodal rays of an X-ray tube. Clinical experience, however, tends to show that there must be some difference between them, as quite frequently cases of lichenification, rodent ulcer, and lupus vulgaris are met with, which have failed to respond to X rays, but yield promptly and satisfactorily to Radium treatment.

It was the good work of the gamma rays of Radium on deep growths that encouraged ,the development of deeply penetrating X rays. To produce these rays the X-ray apparatus, has been fitted for very high voltages. It is not possible to define in a sentence th o respective fields of' Radium, and X rays, but generally it may be said that when the condition is very widespread, and large areas of the body are affected, physicians prefer the X rays because they can b e diffused—more easily than Radium—over the wide area, but when it is desired' to give an intense dose over a small area Radium is preferred. "In the case of young children and highly nervous patients," says the Therapist," " the procedure associated with X-ray treatment often proves very terrifying, and great trouble is experienced in persuading the patient to submit to the necessary manifestations. Witn Radium this difficulty does not occur, no pain,, discomfort, or annoyance is occasioned by the application, and it is a common sight to see quite young children who are being treated for naevi or tuberculous glands, etc., playing with toys,_ the apphctators being safely strapped in position."