Re: Household Radioactivity

["Guinn, Charles D" <CDGUINN@saix367.sandia.gov>]

     If you can find a "REALLY" old (from your great-grandparents days 
     perhaps) set of dentures, you would be in for quite a surprise.  I 
     believe it was Uranium that was used to obtain that "natural" look in 
     the false teeth.


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Household Radioactivity
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at CCSMTP
Date:    10/26/95 3:01 PM


Lantern mantles (is that spelled right?): some do, some don't. Not all 
manufacturers use thorium - use a frisker in the store when you shop!
     
Speaking of throium, it's been used in lenses to obtain precise refraction 
characteristics. Manufacturers are careful about how much they use these 
days, but you may find measurable amounts in old camera lenses, binoculars, 
or telescopes.
     
Potassium: cosmic neutrons traveling thru the atmosphere are moderated just 
about the right amount to be very effective at activating potassium. A fixed 
percentage of all potassium (I forget the percent, others may remember 
better than I) is radioactive, whether the container is a KCl salt 
substitute or a banana.
     
Watches/clocks: luminous dials use tritium/prometheum NOW! If you have your 
grandfather's or father's luminous dial watch, it may be radium and the dose 
rate on contact could be s few mrem/h (I have seen such a beast).
     
The smoke detector use of Am is probably the best case of that horrible 
killer radiation doing something useful without harming a soul (with the 
possible exception of reporters in need of someone being harmed in order to 
make a living).
Bob Flood
Unless otherwise noted, all opinions are mine alone. 
(415) 926-3793
bflood@slac.stanford.edu