ch can be lethal. Since wastecan hurt and kill people who come in contact with the substance, it cannotbe thrown away in a dumpster like other garbage. Waste has to be put incooling pools or storage tanks at the site of the reactors. Anotherproblem is that the reactors can last for a maximum of fifty years. Eventhough plutonium is chemically hazardous and produces harmful radiation,it isn't close to being the most toxic substance on the planet. Suchsubstances as caffeine or radiation from smoke detectors, that have thesame amount of mass as plutonium, can have a greater toxicity.(ref. 2)There are basically three ways plutonium can hurt humans. The first isingestion. Ingestion, though not totally safe, it is not as bad as wethink. The fact is, plutonium passes through the stomach and intestinesand cannot be absorbed and therefore, is released with other waste weproduce.(ref. 1) The second route plutonium can take to be hazardous is through openwounds. This form of contact is very rare and basically cannot happen ifthe element is handled correctly with protective measures such as correctclothing and health monitor procedures.(ref. 1)The last, main threat to our society comes from inhalation. If inhaled,plutonium is exhaled on the next breath or gotten rid off through themucous flow from the throat and bronchial system and released as withingestion. However, some could get trapped and put into the blood streamor lymph nodes.(ref. 1) This has the possibility to cause cancer in thefuture. This might sound frightening, but what we need to realize is thatinhaling thistype of substance is part of some of our daily lives. The problem of inhaling Pu-239 isn't much different than inhaling suchradionuclides like decaying particles from radon. Radon is a radioactivegas that can causecancer.(ref. 6) It comes from the decay of uranium in soil, rock andwater. Inhaling this substance can damage your lungs and lead to cancerover a lifetime. Everyone wh...
