Radioactive disc lost in Sydney

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Radioactive disc lost in Sydney
  
There are concerns children may accidently pick up a radioactive  
substance that has gone missing in Sydney. 

The material, known as Strontium-90, is about the same size as a 50  
cent piece. 

The tarnished silver disc was in the back of a vet's car which was  
stolen from inner city Paddington overnight. 

It is used to burn cancers from horses. 

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says Strontium-90 can  
cause severe burns, even the loss of limbs if handled for a day. 

The EPA's John Dengate says it was contained in wooden boxes, but  
could be discarded by the car thieves. 

"The scary thing is a kid might pick it up and the last thing we  
want is for that to happen. 

"So we'd particularly say to people if you find anything by the  side 
of the road that matches this description to be extremely  careful 
and basically to stay away from it," he said. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html