Editing Americium (section)

==Health concerns==
As a highly radioactive element, americium and its compounds must be handled only in an appropriate laboratory under special arrangements. Although most americium isotopes predominantly emit alpha particles which can be blocked by thin layers of common materials, many of the daughter products emit gamma-rays and neutrons which have a long penetration depth.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120315061533/http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=809&tid=158 Public Health Statement for Americium] Section 1.5., Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, April 2004, Retrieved 28 November 2010</ref>

If consumed, most of the americium is excreted within a few days, with only 0.05% absorbed in the blood, of which roughly 45% goes to the [[liver]] and 45% to the bones, and the remaining 10% is excreted. The uptake to the liver depends on the individual and increases with age. In the bones, americium is first deposited over [[Cortex (anatomy)|cortical]] and [[trabecula]]r surfaces and slowly redistributes over the bone with time. The biological half-life of <sup>241</sup>Am is 50 years in the bones and 20 years in the liver, whereas in the [[gonad]]s (testicles and ovaries) it remains permanently; in all these organs, americium promotes formation of cancer cells as a result of its radioactivity.<ref name="am" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/factsheets/factsheets-pdf/fs23am241.pdf|author=Division of Environmental Health, Office of Radiation Protection|title=Fact Sheet # 23. Americium-241|date=November 2002|access-date=28 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111125906/http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/factsheets/factsheets-pdf/fs23am241.pdf|archive-date=11 November 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Frisch, Franz ''Crystal Clear, 100 x energy'', Bibliographisches Institut AG, Mannheim 1977, {{ISBN|3-411-01704-X}}, p. 184</ref>

Americium often enters landfills from discarded [[smoke detector]]s. The rules associated with the disposal of smoke detectors are relaxed in most jurisdictions. In 1994, 17-year-old [[David Hahn]] extracted the americium from about 100 smoke detectors in an attempt to build a breeder nuclear reactor.<ref name="Silverstein2005">[[Ken Silverstein]], [https://harpers.org/archive/1998/11/the-radioactive-boy-scout/ The Radioactive Boy Scout: When a teenager attempts to build a breeder reactor]. ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', November 1998</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[Fox News]] |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292111,00.html |title='Radioactive Boy Scout' Charged in Smoke Detector Theft |date=4 August 2007 |access-date=28 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208062559/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C292111%2C00.html |archive-date=8 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=Detroit Free Press |url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/BUSINESS05/70827091 |title=Man dubbed 'Radioactive Boy Scout' pleads guilty |date=27 August 2007 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=27 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095926/http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070827%2FBUSINESS05%2F70827091 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[Fox News]] |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/radioactive-boy-scout-sentenced-to-90-days-for-stealing-smoke-detectors |title='Radioactive Boy Scout' Sentenced to 90 Days for Stealing Smoke Detectors |date=4 October 2007 |access-date=28 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113123408/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C299362%2C00.html |archive-date=13 November 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> There have been a few cases of exposure to americium, the worst case being that of [[Chemical technologist|chemical operations technician]] [[Harold McCluskey]], who at the age of 64 was exposed to 500 times the occupational standard for americium-241 as a result of an explosion in his lab. McCluskey died at the age of 75 of unrelated pre-existing disease.<ref name="tristateherald">{{cite news|first=Annette |last=Cary |title=Doctor remembers Hanford's 'Atomic Man' |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |url=http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2008/story/11403.html |date=25 April 2008 |access-date=17 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210232231/http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2008/story/11403.html |archive-date=10 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=AP wire |title=Hanford nuclear workers enter site of worst contamination accident |url=http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/06/03/build/nation/94-contamination.inc |date=3 June 2005 |access-date=17 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013185723/http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews%2F2005%2F06%2F03%2Fbuild%2Fnation%2F94-contamination.inc |archive-date=13 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>