system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why cant we dissolve toxic or radioactive material to make it harmless?

Im curious.. basically everything known to human has a specific arrangement of atoms or molecules. Why are we not able to lets say split up oil or plastic into an endproduct harmless to earth and its creatures?

edit: thanks everyone for your long and detailed answers!!!
gpt
Dissolving it, melting it, etc. doesn't really affect it on the nuclear level. The nucleus of each radioactive atom remains unstable after you do these things.

In fact, now you've potentially made it *more* dangerous by melting it or dissolving it in solution, because it's free to flow around (assuming it started as a solid).