The banana, is a fairly common fruit from Asia. However, today we can get it anywhere in the world, it is used to make juices, desserts, or just to eat it, but did you know the radioactive potential of this fruit?☢️

People commonly eat bananas because they “have potassium” and it is good for the health, which is absolutely true, every 100 g of banana contains an average of 350 mg of Potassium (K). The interesting thing about this chemical element is that it is mostly composed of its benign Potassium-39 isotope; however, a small number (0.012%) is the radioactive Potassium-40 isotope.

Potassium-40 typically undergoes radioactive beta decay to form calcium-40, with a very long half-life of 1.3 billion years. In this process a small amount of energy is released, and it can be measured according to the Sievert scale (J/kg), as it is only 10^(-7) Sv.

You shouldn't be frightened, this amount of radiation is completely harmless and poses no threat to your health. Even so, it is extremely interesting to know that you would have to be in the presence of more than 41 million bananas to receive the expected lethal dose of 4 - 4.5 Sv of potassium radiation. While this may seem like an exaggeration, there have been several cases where banana shipments have already succeeded in triggering the alarms that check the amounts of radiation in ports.

It is logical to think that the greatest amount of radiation that our body receives is due to the sun, and it is true, but 10% of this radiation is due to ourselves (Yes, we are also radioactive!) because we have elements such as Potassium (K) and Carbon (C) in large quantities, we also have the possibility of having (in small proportion) their corresponding radioactive isotopes, therefore, we are constantly emitting radiation due to these processes. Don't panic, it's proven that it's really very unlikely that one of these processes will cause cancer.

Examples like these, are many. There are a large number of radioactive isotopes that live with us and emit radiation when they “disintegrate”. This is the foundation of one of the most dangerous ways that humans have found to generate energy, using chemical elements (commonly Uranium (U), Iodine (I), etc.) to harness radiation (energy) and transform it into electrical or mechanical energy.

Although it represents one of today's major industrial developments, it also requires high levels of security, as radiation is capable of producing truly devastating effects. Unfortunately, we know this from accidents such as the one at Chernobyl, accidents that we hope will never happen again.

Today you know a little more about radiation, maybe you see it as something everyday and not just as a trailer of a science fiction or apocalyptic film. Radioactive processes are part of nature and there is no way to avoid them, we just have to use them in the right way.

And you know, if you get invited to a place with 41 million bananas, don't go! You can die!