Radon-222

Radon-222 (Rn, Rn-222, historically also radium emanation) is the most stable isotope of radon, with a half-life of 3.82146 days. It is an intermediate in the decay chain of primordial uranium-238 and is the immediate decay product of radium-226. Radon-222 was first observed in 1899, and was identified as an isotope of a new element several years later. In 1957, the name radon, formerly the name of only radon-222, became the name of the element. Owing to its gaseous nature and high radioactivity, radon-222 is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. Following the 1898 discovery of radium through chemical analysis of radioactive ore, Marie and Pierre Curie observed a new radioactive substance emanating from radium in 1899 that was strongly radioactive for several days. Around the same time, Ernest Rutherford and Robert B. Owens observed a similar (though shorter-lived) emission from thorium compounds. German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn extensively studied these emanations in the early 1900s and attributed them to a new gaseous element, radon. In particular, he studied the product in the uranium series, radon-222, which he called radium emanation. In the early 20th century, the element radon was known by several different names.