picocurie
Tiny radioactivity measure
A picocurie is one trillionth of a curie—a unit measuring radioactivity.
While the curie (named for Marie Curie) represents a large amount of radioactive decay, the picocurie measures the tiny levels found in everyday contexts: radon in basements, trace contamination in soil, background radiation in drinking water.
The EPA recommends action when radon exceeds 4 picocuries per liter of air.
Radioactive inert gas
- radioactivitySpontaneous nuclear decay
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- isotopeElemental variant by mass
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
alpha · beta · gamma · ionizing · exposure · contamination · radionuclide · tritium
Radioactive inert gas
- exposureState of being unprotected
- riskPossibility of harm
- EPAFederal environmental regulator
- guidelineRecommended standard for action
limit · safe · threshold · mitigation · testing · screening · lung · cancer
Process of breaking apart
- activityEngagement in doing
- calibrationAdjusting for measurement accuracy
- detectionAct of finding something
- quantificationExpressing something numerically
sensitivity · threshold · background · counting · sampling · monitoring · instrumentation · spectrometry
Divided by twelve zeros
- tinyExtremely small in size
- minuteSixtieth of an hour
- infinitesimalQuantity approaching zero
- traceMinute remnant or pursue
negligible · imperceptible · minuscule · fractional · small · low-level · background · detectable
radon
Radioactive inert gas
- radioactivitySpontaneous nuclear decay
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- isotopeElemental variant by mass
half-life · alpha · beta · gamma · ionizing · exposure · contamination · radionuclide · tritium · radium
radon
Radioactive inert gas
guideline · limit · safe · threshold · mitigation · testing · screening · lung · cancer · carcinogen
disintegration
Process of breaking apart
- activityEngagement in doing
- calibrationAdjusting for measurement accuracy
- detectionAct of finding something
quantification · sensitivity · threshold · background · counting · sampling · monitoring · instrumentation · spectrometry · scintillation
trillionth
Divided by twelve zeros
- tinyExtremely small in size
- minuteSixtieth of an hour
- infinitesimalQuantity approaching zero
trace · negligible · imperceptible · minuscule · fractional · small · low-level · background · detectable · measurable