Welcome to Hollows Park, Iodine, Element 53 Traditional Cache

Many isotopes of iodine are known. All of them are radioactive except for I-127.  Solid iodine is blue-black in color and shiny. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, iodine sublimates into its gas, so the liquid form is not seen.  Iodine is a halogen, which is a type of non-metal. Iodine possesses some characteristics of metals, too.

The thyroid gland uses iodine to make the hormones thyroxine and triiodotyronine. Insufficient iodine leads to development of a goiter, which is a swelling of the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency is believed to be the leading preventable cause of mental retardation. Excessive iodine symptoms are similar to those of iodine insufficiency. Iodine toxicity is more severe if a person has a selenium deficiency.

The atomic number of iodine is 53, meaning all atoms of iodine possess 53 protons.  Commercially, iodine is mined in Chile and extracted from iodine-rich brines, notably from the oilfields in the US and Japan.