Toxicity of radon

[noxid]

Is radon toxic because it is radioactive or because it is chemically active?

[Sensei]

Noble gases are not chemically reactive.

 

Difficulty in going them into reaction explains why the first noble gas compound was found just in 1962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_gas_compound

 

Half-life of the most stable Radon isotope is just 3.8235(3) days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_radon

Edited September 7, 2016 by Sensei

[EdEarl]

Radon is a noble gas, which means it is not chemically active; it is inert or nearly so. It is poisonous only because it is radioactive.

[noxid]

I have read that xenon reacts

[EdEarl]

 

Wikipedia

Radon is a member of the zero-valence elements that are called noble gases. It is inert to most common chemical reactions, such as combustion, because the outer valence shell contains eight electrons. This produces a stable, minimum energy configuration in which the outer electrons are tightly bound.[10] 1037 kJ/mol is required to extract one electron from its shells (also known as the first ionization energy).[11] In accordance with periodic trends, radon has a lower electronegativity than the element one period before it, xenon, and is therefore more reactive. Early studies concluded that the stability of radon hydrate should be of the same order as that of the hydrates of chlorine (Cl₂) or sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and significantly higher than the stability of the hydrate of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S).

 

Because of its cost and radioactivity, experimental chemical research is seldom performed with radon, and as a result there are very few reported compounds of radon, all either fluorides or oxides. Radon can be oxidized by powerful oxidizing agents such as fluorine, thus forming radon difluoride. It decomposes back to elements at a temperature of above 250 °C.

Wikipedia has no toxicity information for F₂Rn.