Specific activity Specific activity Specific activity is the activity per quantity of a radionuclide and is a physical property of that radionuclide. Activity is a quantity related to radioactivity. The SI unit of activity is the becquerel (Bq), equal to one reciprocal second. The becquerel is defined as the number of radioactive transformations per second that occur in a particular radioactive isotope. Its related non-SI unit equivalent is the Curie (Ci) which is transformations per second. Since the probability of radioactive decay for a given radionuclide is a fixed physical quantity (with some slight exceptions, see changing decay rates), the number of
Environmental radioactivity exponential curve, but the scatter of the points is large (R = 0.3683). The additional radioactivity in the biosphere caused by human activity due to the releases of man-made radioactivity and of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) can be divided into several classes. Just because a radioisotope lands on the surface of the soil, does not mean it will enter the human food chain. After release into the environment, radioactive materials can reach humans in a range of different routes, and the chemistry of the element usually dictates the most likely route. Jiří Hála claims in his textbook "Radioactivity, Ionizing