ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the current knowledge on the physico-chemical properties and biogeochemistry of radionuclides and heavy metals. A focus is made on applications associated with the radioactive decay of some common radionuclides such as 64Cu, 90Y, 68Ga, 177Lu, and 99mTc in nuclear medicine imaging and radiotherapy. Toxicity issues associated with some examples of heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and nickel) whose mechanisms of toxicity are mainly based on three principles (inhibiting the enzymes by binding to the functional groups needed for their normal activities, exerting genotoxic effects and disorganization of cell membranes), and two radionuclides (Radon-222 and Plutonium-239) are also covered in this chapter.
