1913-1918: Protactinium - The book of science

Protactinium
Atomic number 91
Eating it
Commentary

Karlsruhe, Glasgow, Berlin—Oswald Helmuth Göhring, Georg von Hevesy, John Arnold Cranston, Frederick Soddy, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner elements

Protactinium

Kasimir Fajans and Oswald Helmuth Göhring
found protactinium-234
and named it brevium.
John Arnold Cranston and Frederick Soddy
found a stable isotope of protactinium
and didn’t announce it until after WWI.
Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner
found protactinium-231
and named it proto-actinium.

Atomic number 91

Uranium-235 from nuclear reactors
decays to protactinium-231.
Uranium-238 to protactinium-234m,
a nuclear isomer.
Thorium-233 decays
to protactinium-233.
Relative amounts of isotopes
of uranium, thorium, and protractinium
help determine the ages
of geological processes

Eating it

Proactinium—rare but everywhere,
in our water, in our food, in our air.
Extremely toxic, promoting cancer,
though a small part stays to answer.
Over time, let us see;
it decays, and so do we.

Protractinium is highly radioactive and extremely toxic, so even though its oxides and other chemical compounds have a variety of colors and crystal structures, you won’t see it advertised in tomorrow’s dinnerware or playthings, although it might well be there.