Safety of Am-241 Smoke Detectors -Reply

[Keith Brown <KDB1@nrc.gov>]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

     In a effort to educate the public (especially students) about radiation
     science it is useful to point out common, non-threatening consumer
     products like lantern mantles and smoke detectors.

     Can anyone provide references of safety evaluations of these
products?

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

NUREG/CR-1775 is entitled "Environmental Assessment of Consumer
Products Containing Radioactive Material."  It contains a comparison of
the number of deaths (theoretically) from ten years of use of smoke
detectors to the ten year death toll (actual) from fires (ratio between
15,000 and 51,000), which explains why these items are allowed to be
distributed as exempt.  It also contains evaluations of other items.

Keith Brown
kdb1@nrc.gov

(Opinions expressed are my own.)