Uranium in the Glaze of Fiestaware

[Al Tschaeche <xat@inel.gov>]

I follow the thread of this subject with interest, some amusement and a lot
of concern.  When I was young (a long time ago) my family had a large set of
fiestaware.  Of all of the seven or eight colors in that set, only the
orange one was radioactive (I discovered much later).  However, we did not
know about that at the time.  We used the set routinely for lunch and dinner
(supper).  When the set was not in use it was stored in a cabinet in such a
manner that no one could have been exposed to any radiation from the orange
plates and cups and saucers.  So the exposure only occurred when the set was
in use, about an hour a day for fifteen or twenty years.  None of my family
suffered any ill effects from either the radioactive material, if any, that
got into the food, or the radiation from the surface.  I estimate in
retrospect that I, and each member of my family,  might have received a
total effective dose equivalent over the twenty years of at most 75 mrem,
and a skin dose of 730 mrad.  These doses cannot be harmful!!!!!!!!!!!  My
concern is that we are talking about this at all.  Fiestaware is neither a
hazard nor a risk.  No one should be told not to use it.  We do ourselves
and the public (to say nothing about the legislators and regulators) a huge
disservice when we even suggest using something like fiestaware is at all
risky.  Maybe the food one eats from the fiestaware might be risky if one
ate too much.  But the doses one might get from using fiestaware are too
small to even think about.  Simply because the surface dose rate is
measurable doesn't mean that the dose one might get is significant.  Dose is
what counts, not dose rate.  But you all know that.  I guess most of this is
opinion, but it is informed opinion I believe.  Al Tschaeche xat@inel.gov