Environmental radioactivity g) to that of the soil water (Bq ml). If the radioactivity is tightly bonded to by the minerals in the soil then less radioactivity can be absorbed by crops and grass growing in the soil. One dramatic source of man-made radioactivity is a nuclear weapons test. The glassy trinitite formed by the first atom bomb contains radioisotopes formed by neutron activation and nuclear fission. In addition some natural radioisotopes are present. A recent paper reports the levels of long-lived radioisotopes in the trinitite. The trinitite was formed from feldspar and quartz which were melted by the heat. Two samples
Induced radioactivity Induced radioactivity Induced radioactivity, also called artificial radioactivity or man-made radioactivity, is the process of using radiation to cause a previously stable material to become radioactive. The husband and wife team of Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie (they both began using the surname Joliot-Curie when they married in 1926) discovered induced radioactivity in 1934, and they shared the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery. Irène Curie began her research with her parents, Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, studying the natural radioactivity found in radioactive isotopes. Irène and Pierre Joliot-Curie Irene branched off from the Curies to study turning