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Respectfully requesting help from uk/europe member

  • #21
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Sep. 26 2004,10:53)]That glowring isn't anything to worry alot about, if you guys have smoke detectors in your homes (which legally you have to have) you might want to know that smoke detectors contain americium-241 which emmits alpha radiation. It works by having alpha particles travel at high speed and knock electrons from molecules in the air. The ionized air completes a small electrical circuit inside the smoke detector. When smoke enters, it breaks the circuit created by the ionized air, and the alarm goes off. Don't feel like going near your smoke detector now do you? I think the "we fear that in which we don't understand" quote ifits well in this situation..
Hi,

alpha-Radiation consists of very big parts which only reach few cm in air and they are already shielded by a sheet of paper. So as long as you don't dismount your smoke detector there is virtually no risk. Modern smoke detectors all work by optical means which is not harmful at all - are these ancient radioactive smoke detectors still sold in the US?

Joachim

P.S.: tweek, there is a massive difference between natural radioctive radiation ond the stuff inside this keyring!
 
  • #22
Anyone remember those Xrays in shoe stores? you would put on a shoe and put it under the Xray, and see if it fitted you. The thing is, it wasnt a split second shot, it was full blast of Xray that was never turned off. Peoplle would have their feet in there for hours, just for fun... Unfortunately all the exposure to the Xrays gave them foot cancer
 
  • #23
Actually, there are more than three types of radiation.

There is: alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron. These forms come from the nucleus.

X-rays and visible light come from the electron shells.

Radiation is simply energy in the form of particles or waves.

Atoms are not static entities. A particle or wave may strike another stable atom and it may become radioactive(give off particles or waves).

There is no massive difference in the radiation in the key ring. Radiation is radiation. Most radiation is non-man made. Tritium is naturally formed in the upper atmosphere from cosmic radiation. It is naturally found in the water and the air. Unless, you mean you want to quantify or label the type or amount of energy.

Skin will stop the radiation, but the danger is if it is internal. The radiation is dispersed throughout the whole body. And the half life is 12.3 years. So, don't break open and eat your glowring.

Tritium is used in some gunsights, some watch faces and some public exit signs. IMO, if these are allowed, glowrings should be too.

Glowring millionaire wanna be,
Tweek
 
  • #24
Gamma rays would fry us like eggs in miliseconds
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[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
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. A particle or wave may strike another stable atom and it may become radioactive(give off particles or waves).

Right isnt the damage done by the particles shreddeing your cells to peices (in high doseges) Like so many eggs in a weat thresher.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]are already shielded by a sheet of paper

wow thats the best protection mony can buy
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  • #25
Oh by theway mircowave xrays and gamma rays are high intensety energy waves, not... well i dunno if their radiation. but they are engergy waves
 
  • #26
uranium ore? does it glow too?
 
  • #27
Also isn't there C 14 in our body which is also radioactive? After all when animals and people die scientists use the c-14 method to determine how long ago they died do to the break down of C-14 atoms
 
  • #28
[b said:
Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ Sep. 29 2004,4:19)]uranium ore? does it glow too?
Yeah.
 
  • #29
It's present in very small numbers, i think like .01 percent or something. With a half life of 5,730, from that number scientists work backwards and calculate how long ago the organism died.
 
  • #30
Its carbon after all- most everything is made up of carbon.
 
  • #31
[b said:
Quote[/b] (tweek @ Sep. 29 2004,10:38)]Tritium is used in some gunsights, some watch faces and some public exit signs. IMO, if these are allowed, glowrings should be too.
Yes, they are allowed in the USA, but in europe most countries forbid the use of those materials. There are some people who got cancer from those wall paints they used in the German Armed Forces many years ago.

C14: Its radioactive but our body does have only slight amounts of this.

Jan
 
  • #32
Yeah.. we have traces of alot of things in our body. C-14 AND tritium are both cosmic produced (cosmic rays hit the upper atmosphere, which cause them to emmit high energy neutrons which then interact with nitrogen atoms to produce protons, and C-14). Clouds collect some C-14, tritium, and alot of other things, and carry it back down to earth, where organism (like you and me), then drink the water. We are exposed to C-14 and tritium all the time. No big deal. They just collected it and put it in a little tube for you. Still, we are only exposed to small amounts, but i still doubt there is enought in there to harm you.
 
  • #33
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Amateur_Expert @ Oct. 01 2004,11:57)]Still, we are only exposed to small amounts, but i still doubt there is enought in there to harm you.
I agree, but I wouldnt buy a tritium keyring personally. You should alway try to avoid extra exposure to radioactive materials and keep it away from your body (the intensity falls with the square of the radius).

They told the soldiers that those wall paints would be harmless, too...now some died of cancer.

Jan
 
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