Unlike the (relatively) non-reactive inert gases, Astatine is very reactive, although the least of all the halogens. It is also the heaviest of them, and it is radioactive as well. Astatine has a very short half-life, so studying this element in great detail has proven to be quite difficult. That coupled with the fact that astatine is the RAREST naturally occurring element on Earth! At any one time the amount of astatine on the Earth's surface totals one teaspoon. That is crazy!
It behaves a lot like iodine, and is even thought to have the accumulative effects that iodine has on the thyroid gland. Although since this element is so rare, the likelihood of the general public being exposed is not likely.
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