Americium: biological information
Americium has no biological role.
Levels in humans
- Human abundance by weight: (no data) ppb by weight
- Human abundance by atoms: (no data) atoms relative to C = 1000000
How much americium is in your body? Find out here.
You can use this form to calculate how much americium your body contains. Enter your weight in either kilograms or pounds and click the "Calculate" button. You must enter a number, not text! Elements for which there are no data will always give a value of zero for the weight, no matter what you put in the weight box.
Hazards and Risks
Hazards and risks associated with americium:
Americium does not occur naturally in the biosphere and so normally never presents a risk. In practice, americium is only found in any quantity inside controlled environments within research laboratories and nuclear facilities. In very, very small quantities, its α-radiation does find practical use in small smoke detectors. All such instruments are clearly labelled as containing radioisotopes.
- J.E. Huheey, E.A. Keiter, and R.L. Keiter in Inorganic Chemistry : Principles of Structure and Reactivity, 4th edition, HarperCollins, New York, USA, 1993.
- S. Budavari (Ed.) in The Merck Index, 11th ed., Merck, USA, 1989.
- N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.