[ RadSafe ] Fwd: Radioactive water treatment devices on ebay

[Robert Atkinson]

Hi,
Yes the alpha counts are above background. The detector was an older Nuclear Enterprises 4" (100mm )square ZnS probe with a 2" PMT. Background was zero over 10 minutes. Obviously the low count rate would dictate a longer count time for accurate results. It is also possible that the counts were from surface contamination with radon daughters as there was some other NORM in the storage area. It was a quick and dirty check. Another interesting observation was that the beta count rate is higher from the back of the pendant than the front (this has also been observered by others). The variance is between 10 and 30% depending on the pendant tested. This has lead to the theory that there may be a piece of active material inside the disk and the visible material is inert encapsulation. This would of course block any alpha particles. Basic gamma spectroscopy done by others indicates that the active material may be Thorium, so possibly Monazite sand or
 similar. 
 
Robert Atkinson.


________________________________
From: Chris Alston <achris1999 at gmail.com>
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, 9 May 2013, 19:08
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: Radioactive water treatment devices on ebay


Robert

Are those 2 - 3 counts/10 minutes with your ZnS scintillometer *above*
background?  I ask because that is a not-unusual background countrate,
with some alpha scint. probes.  TIA and

Cheers
cja


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robert Atkinson <robert8rpi at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, May 9, 2013 at 2:43 AM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Radioactive water treatment devices on ebay- the
Rejuvenator returns
To: "radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu" <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>


Has anyone else noticed the appearence of "Quantum Scalar Energy"
pendents and similar items on ebay? The items are clamed to produce
"negative ions",but it's not mentioned that they are slightly
radioactive. Some ads show the "negative ions" being detected with a
geiger counter. The pendants appear to contain NORM, possibly Thorium
rich sand, encapsulated in resin and are probably harmless. I have one
and it produces low levels of beta and gamma radiation but virtually
no alphas (2-3 counts in 10 minutes with a ZnS scintillaton detector).
A slightly more worrying development is that they are now selling
water "filters" with a "Quantum Scalar Energy" stick to go in it. It
appears to be a simple mechanical filter (says PP, Polyproplyene?) no
activated carbon or ion exchange so it's probabaly not a good filter
and certainly won't make contaminated water safe as claimed. The
"Quantum Scalar Energy" stick contins unknown material, but is
probably similar
to the pendants but with the risk of internal contamination.
Are these things legal? At best the claims are misleading. I think
something should be done, but I'm in the UK and they are on ebay.com
and the seller is probabaly in China.
Any thoughts?

Robert Atkinson CEng MRAeS
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