Using the Atom for Health

Diagnosing lung, heart, liver and brain disorders, treating and curing some cancers, tracing chemical elements and vitamins in the human body - all use radioactive elements for mankind's better health. Radioactive materials are used in procedures for half of all patients in U.S. hospitals.
For example: Cobalt-60 helps suppress the body's immune reaction to transplanted human organs. And laboratory techniques to detect thyroid underactivity in newborn babies make prompt treatment possible, saving many children from mental retardation.

Most of the wastes from nuclear medicine (e.g., needles, bottles) have low-level radioactivity. They can be stored on site till the radioactivity decays and then disposed of as ordinary trash. A small amount of more radioactive waste must be buried at licensed sites. Stopping such waste disposal could also stop the medical help of our silent servant - the atom.