| Element | Source | Primary Emission | Decay [half-life] | Organ | Potential Treatment | Potential Long-term Effects |
|---|
| Cesium 137 | mining of ores | beta and gamma rays | 30 years | soft tissues | Prussian blue | multiple soft-tissue cancers |
| Iodine 131 | nuclear power plants; imaging in nuclear medicine | beta and gamma rays | 8.04 days | thyroid | Potassium iodide | thyroid cancer |
| Plutonium 239 | nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs | alpha, beta, and gamma rays | 24,000 years | bone, bone marrow, liver, lungs | metal chelating agents | bone marrow cancers, e.g., leukemias & lymphomas, lung cancers |
| Radon 222 | decay product of radium, thorium, and uranium | isotopes of polonium, into which the radon decays | 3.8 days | lungs | mitigation by removal by means of fans and ventilation systems | lung cancer |
| Strontium 90 | radioactive fallout | beta rays | 29 years | bone | calcium phosphate or aluminum phosphate | bone cancers, bone marrow cancers |