Atrace radioisotope is aradioisotope that occurs naturally in trace amounts (i.e. extremely small). Generally speaking, trace radioisotopes havehalf-lives that are short in comparison with theage of the Earth, sinceprimordial nuclides tend to occur in larger than trace amounts. Trace radioisotopes are therefore present only because they are continually produced on Earth by natural processes. Natural processes which produce trace radioisotopes includecosmic ray bombardment of stable nuclides, ordinaryalpha andbeta decay of the long-lived heavy nuclides,thorium-232,uranium-238, anduranium-235,spontaneous fission ofuranium-238, andnuclear transmutation reactions induced bynatural radioactivity, such as the production ofplutonium-239^[1] anduranium-236^[2] fromneutron capture^[3] bynatural uranium.

The elements that occur on Earth only in traces are listed below.

Isotopes of other elements (not exhaustive):

• Tritium
• Beryllium-7
• Beryllium-10
• Carbon-14
• Fluorine-18
• Sodium-22
• Sodium-24
• Magnesium-28
• Silicon-31
• Silicon-32
• Phosphorus-32
• Sulfur-35
• Sulfur-38
• Chlorine-34m
• Chlorine-36
• Chlorine-38
• Chlorine-39
• Argon-39
• Argon-42
• Calcium-41
• Iron-52
• Cobalt-55
• Nickel-59
• Copper-60
• Germanium-64
• Selenium-79
• Krypton-81
• Strontium-90
• Rhodium-105

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