What are heavy isotopes?

Written by bkseljak on October 22, 2014. Posted in

In isotope science, a “heavy isotope” is the stable isotope or stable isotopes of an element, which are heavier than the most abundant isotope. For instance, ¹⁸O is considered as heavy oxygen, compared to the most abundant ¹⁶O. Heavy isotopes are thus not dangerous – unless, of course, in toxic elements; light cadmium is as toxic as heavy cadmium.