How much amount of uranium you need to eat to die?

Uranium is a naturally occurring element that makes up approximately 2–4 ppm of the earth=s crust. It is more plentiful than silver and about as abundant as molybdenum or arsenic. Uranium is an actinide element, and has the highest atomic mass of any naturally occurring element.

Uranium is a hard, dense, malleable, ductile, silver-white, radioactive metal. Uranium metal has very high density obviously. When finely divided, it can react with cold water. In air it is coated by uranium oxide, tarnishing rapidly. It is attacked by steam and acids. Uranium can form solids solutions and inter metallic compounds with many of the metals.

With the developments in nuclear energy Uranium gained importance. Depleted uranium is used as shelding to protect tanks, and also in bullets and missiles. The first atomic bomb used on Hiroshima was a uranium bomb. This bomb contained enough of the uramium-235 isotope to start an uncontrolled chain reaction which in a fraction of a second caused a large number of the uranium atoms to undergo fission, there by releasing a tremendous amount of energy instantly vaporising whatever was engulfed in the heat of the bomb at the centre of the explosion..

People always experience exposure to a certain amount of uranium from food, air, soil and water, as it is naturally present in all these components. So coming in contact is inevitable. Food, such as root vegetables, and water will provide us with small amounts of natural uranium and we will breathe in minimal concentrations of uranium with air. The concentrations of uranium is in fractions of microgram and more over the body is not made to absorb uranium so 90 % goes in faeces and 70 % goes with urine of what's remaining.

But if still you eat uranium about 50 milligram you will die of kidney failure and other renal damages before you die of radiation poisoning.

People that live near hazardous waste sites, people that live near mines, people that work in the phosphate industry, people that eat crops grown on contaminated soil or people that drink water from a uranium waste disposal point may experience a higher exposure than other people. 

Uranium is a radioactive substance health effects have been researched. Scientists have detected no harmful radiation effects of natural levels of uranium. However, chemical effects may occur after the uptake of large amounts of uranium and these can cause health effects such as kidney disease.

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