Joseph Herbert on tue 22 sep 98
Uranium WAS used in pottery glazes to produce yellow, orange or red colors and
in glass to produce those colors or a smoky appearance. ( If you are
collecting pre-war Fiesta ware, a Geiger counter is a fairly good haggling
tool )
Radium WAS used to activate a phosphorescent compound (Zinc sulfide??) on
watch and clock dials so they glow in the dark.
The lantern mantles contain Thorium to give them that special glow when heated
and smoke detectors contain Americium. Modern Glow-in-the-dark watches
contain Tritium (super Hydrogen) to activate the glowing compound.
The dangers of radioactive materials are varied and, it seems, mysterious.
The word "radiation" is used inaccurately by most people. For example, when
confronted with a radioactive source they scream "RADIATION" and run out into
the sunshine. I don't say that it is necessarily good to stay near a
radioactive source but sunshine is also radiation and many more people are
having problems from sun caused skin damage than from plutonium ingestion.
Radiation in it simplest definition is a mechanism for transferring energy
across some distance without the necessity of an intervening medium. So the
energy from the sun is transferred by radiation of light (and particles)
across the distance between there and here. A similar process transfers
energy from your computer screen to your eyes, from a kiln peephole to your
face, and from your body to outer space when you lay under the stars on a
clear night.
The energy that is emitted when a radioactive atom decays comes in three or
four forms and is called IONIZING Radiation for reasons we will see shortly.
The particles or "rays" that come from atomic decay carry enough energy to
remove electrons from the atoms in materials as these particles pass through.
An ion is an atom, of any kind, that has had an electron added or, in this
case, removed so that the atom is electrically charged. In a person's body
the presence of these charged atoms can be very inconvenient and if there are
enough of them, deadly. Some of the emissions that come from nuclear
reactions can cause direct changes in the nucleus of atoms but this doesn't
matter for this discussion.
One form of energy emitted from a radioactive atom decay is a Gamma Ray. This
is a high energy form of light. Gamma rays are more energetic than X-rays and
will penetrate matter as X-rays do. The photons (light particles) that have
Gamma ray, X-ray, or Ultra-violet light energy can IONIZE atoms in matter -
like your body. The difference is that Ultra-violet light stops in the first
layers of skin while X and gamma rays can go all the way through. Gamma rays
have sufficient energy to ionize several atoms along the path the take through
an object. The atoms in a human body are, for the most part, no intended to
exist there as ions. When energetic radiation changes the atoms into ions,
this constitutes damage because the changed, charged atoms do not work
correctly in the tissue any more.
Radioactive decay may also emit sub-atomic particles that carry energy and may
penetrate matter. Alpha particles are atomic fragments that contain two
protons, two neutrons and no electrons. These are very heavy as particles go
and have a large charge of minus 2. An alpha particle will interact strongly
with the atoms in the matter it encounters and will do lots of damage but will
not penetrate very far. Alpha particles present almost no danger to a human
body - UNLESS THE SOURCE IS INSIDE. Human skin, clothing, eye glasses are all
very effective Alpha shields and the particles never get to living cells to do
damage - UNLESS THE SOURCE IS INSIDE. If you have the misfortune to ingest an
alpha emitting radioactive material, the atoms that emit the alpha particles
are right next to your important cells without any intervening absorbing
materials. In this situation, the alpha particles make large and really
unwanted changes to the cells. In other situations, Alpha particles slow
down, find electrons, and become helium atoms - an inert, fun-making balloon
filler.
Beta particles are electrons that are ejected rapidly from the nucleus of a
radioactive atom. Beta particles are light - 1/1860 of a proton while Alpha
particles weigh 4 protons worth. For further reference, hydrogen is 1 and
carbon is 12. Beta particles carry a single negative charge and can penetrate
human tissue for a short distance. While this short penetration is going on,
the charge on the beta causes ionization changes to atoms along its path.
Clothing will stop beta particles easily. The greatest danger presented by
beta particles is to the eye. Exposure of human eyes to beta particles is not
at all good. When beta particles slow down (loose energy) they become
electrons and enter the normal world of electrons, chemistry and electricity.
A rare particle emitted by some radioactive atoms is a neutron, an uncharged
particle with a weight of 1. Fast neutrons can pass right through people
without doing much damage (depending on how many there are), while slow
neutrons can interact with hydrogen in a body and then decay into a proton and
a beta particle right there inside. A fast neutron can (rarely) hit an atomic
nucleus in your body so hard the atom's nucleus is knocked away from its
electrons. This makes a very heavy, highly charged particle right inside a
cell. That displaced atom particle can many unwanted changes before it finds
electrons and becomes an atom again. Neutron emissions are most often
associated with nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs and are not usually a
problem in every day life.
Gamma rays are very penetrating, very energetic, and very damaging. Long term
exposure to even a small gamma source has serious health consequences because
the damage keeps adding up. This is the reason radioactive materials are
generally kept away from the general public and not used in objects of
commerce. A person might get an unintended, unknown exposure to ionizing
radiation over a long period of time and that would cause health problems.
Gamma rays from a source across a room can contribute to the general exposure
you get throughout your life. If it is possible to prevent needless exposure,
we should do so.
What radiation should we worry about?
Sunburn!! For most people in the United States sunburn is the most important
radiation danger. Wear sunscreen and a big hat.
Radon!! In some parts of the country there is enough naturally occurring
radioactive material in the rocks that underlay the houses that radon gas will
build up in basements. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is
very heavy and collects in low places with bad ventilation. Radon decays into
another radioactive element that is not a gas. The problem with radon is that
it can be inhaled and, once in a lung stays there until it decays. The decay
emits ionizing radiation and deposits another radioactive atom in the lung.
Very bad. In the basement, radon decay can result in significant radioactive
dust that is inhalable and also bad. The danger from radon is well known in
the areas where it occurs and simple tests are available to assure one's house
is radon free.
Cosmic Rays!! There are a significant number of people whose most important
radiation exposure comes from outer space. Cosmic rays - very fast large
atomic nuclei hit atoms in earth s upper atmosphere and generate Gamma rays.
People who spend lots of time in airliners are exposed to many of these gamma
rays. People who live on mountains are exposed to these gamma rays. People
who live in caves are not exposed to these gamma rays but may be exposed to
radon. Humm.
Rocks!! Rocks containing lots of potassium - like granite and Custer feldspar
- contain potassium, some of which is radioactive. Potassium 40 is naturally
occurring and radioactive. when it decays, it produces gamma rays.
Fortunately, not much of the potassium is potassium 40 but if you live in an
area where the underlying rock is granite, you are exposed to more radiation
than is someone how lives in a limestone area. Other rocks, in very special
circumstances, are ores for radioactive elements. any of these in large
quantities will increase your radiation exposure. A miner working in granite
to extract uranium ore will get quite a bit of exposure.
These things are the most common sources of natural exposure to ionizing
radiation. In generally, if you are in an average environment, the radiation
exposure you get during your life time will have no noticeable effect. If you
are unlucky, or not careful, you might get skin cancer or cataracts.
What about not-average environments? What precautions can be taken? Don't
collect pre-world war II Fiesta ware or smoke glass. If you do, don't sleep
with it or keep it really close to you. Don't purchase or otherwise obtain
any radioactive materials. Having some Uranium Oxide to play around with can
easily lead to ingestion of Uranium oxide and you have a radioactive source on
the inside. Not good. If your house is in a radon area, buy a test kit and
use it. Respect warning signs that indicate radiation areas or radioactive
materials. Some industrial or medical processes use strong radiation sources.
Do not assume that someone put that sign up by mistake.
There have been some tragic radiation poisonings since our world became
atomic. Most of these resulted from ignorance, some from carelessness. The
Nuclear Power Industry, for all its faults, can claim that no one has died of
radiation exposure from a commercial power reactor. This is because of safety
measures, training, and constant monitoring. The scientific or military world
cannot claim the same sort of record. Marie Curie - famous radiation pioneer
- died of radiation induced leukemia. It took a long time. Her husband would
probably have been similarly affected but he was run over by a horse cart and
killed. The famous radium victims of Ottawa, Illinois were poisoned and
killed by ingesting radium while painting watch dials. Think about that the
next time you lick a brush or pencil. At least one worker at Los Alamos was
killed by neutron radiation from a criticality accident during the development
of the atomic bomb. Another event with a similar result seems to have taken
place at West Valley, New York later on. There were radiation deaths
associated with the bombing of Japan but these weren't accidents and the
perpetrators were certainly informed, even if the victims weren't. There are
an unknown number of excess deaths from fallout resulting from weapons testing
in the atmosphere. This could be several thousand or tens of thousands, but
it is hard to say. Several military reactor operators were killed in a "50's
reactor accident. There were a couple radiation deaths associated with a
particle accelerator when workmen ignored signs and entered a radiation area.
Lately, there were deaths in Mexico and Brazil when the containers of medical
radiation treatment equipment were broken open and the contents scattered
around.
All of these deaths, including the atomic bomb victims, are far fewer than
those caused by automobiles since 1945. They are even fewer than the deaths
caused by tobacco in the same time. You know about cars and you don't care,
you know about cigarettes and you don't care. Why do you care about Uranium,
because you don't know??
Joseph Herbert
JJHerb@aol.com
Dannon Rhudy on thu 24 sep 98
Great post. Lots of good stuff that I had
no idea. Now I do.
Thanks,
Dannon
----------
> From: Joseph Herbert
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Subject: Uranium and other modern issues - really long
> Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 9:53 PM
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Uranium WAS used in pottery glazes to produce yellow, orange or red
colors and
> in glass to produce those colors or a smoky appearance. ( If you are
> collecting pre-war Fiesta ware, a Geiger counter is a fairly good
haggling
> tool )
>
> Radium WAS used to activate a phosphorescent compound (Zinc sulfide??) on
> watch and clock dials so they glow in the dark.
>
> The lantern mantles contain Thorium to give them that special glow when
heated
> and smoke detectors contain Americium. Modern Glow-in-the-dark watches
> contain Tritium (super Hydrogen) to activate the glowing compound.
>
> The dangers of radioactive materials are varied and, it seems,
mysterious.
>
> The word "radiation" is used inaccurately by most people. For example,
when
> confronted with a radioactive source they scream "RADIATION" and run out
into
> the sunshine. I don't say that it is necessarily good to stay near a
> radioactive source but sunshine is also radiation and many more people
are
> having problems from sun caused skin damage than from plutonium
ingestion.
> Radiation in it simplest definition is a mechanism for transferring
energy
> across some distance without the necessity of an intervening medium. So
the
> energy from the sun is transferred by radiation of light (and particles)
> across the distance between there and here. A similar process transfers
> energy from your computer screen to your eyes, from a kiln peephole to
your
> face, and from your body to outer space when you lay under the stars on a
> clear night.
>
> The energy that is emitted when a radioactive atom decays comes in three
or
> four forms and is called IONIZING Radiation for reasons we will see
shortly.
> The particles or "rays" that come from atomic decay carry enough energy
to
> remove electrons from the atoms in materials as these particles pass
through.
> An ion is an atom, of any kind, that has had an electron added or, in
this
> case, removed so that the atom is electrically charged. In a person's
body
> the presence of these charged atoms can be very inconvenient and if there
are
> enough of them, deadly. Some of the emissions that come from nuclear
> reactions can cause direct changes in the nucleus of atoms but this
doesn't
> matter for this discussion.
>
> One form of energy emitted from a radioactive atom decay is a Gamma Ray.
This
> is a high energy form of light. Gamma rays are more energetic than
X-rays and
> will penetrate matter as X-rays do. The photons (light particles) that
have
> Gamma ray, X-ray, or Ultra-violet light energy can IONIZE atoms in
matter -
> like your body. The difference is that Ultra-violet light stops in the
first
> layers of skin while X and gamma rays can go all the way through. Gamma
rays
> have sufficient energy to ionize several atoms along the path the take
through
> an object. The atoms in a human body are, for the most part, no intended
to
> exist there as ions. When energetic radiation changes the atoms into
ions,
> this constitutes damage because the changed, charged atoms do not work
> correctly in the tissue any more.
>
> Radioactive decay may also emit sub-atomic particles that carry energy
and may
> penetrate matter. Alpha particles are atomic fragments that contain two
> protons, two neutrons and no electrons. These are very heavy as
particles go
> and have a large charge of minus 2. An alpha particle will interact
strongly
> with the atoms in the matter it encounters and will do lots of damage but
will
> not penetrate very far. Alpha particles present almost no danger to a
human
> body - UNLESS THE SOURCE IS INSIDE. Human skin, clothing, eye glasses
are all
> very effective Alpha shields and the particles never get to living cells
to do
> damage - UNLESS THE SOURCE IS INSIDE. If you have the misfortune to
ingest an
> alpha emitting radioactive material, the atoms that emit the alpha
particles
> are right next to your important cells without any intervening absorbing
> materials. In this situation, the alpha particles make large and really
> unwanted changes to the cells. In other situations, Alpha particles slow
> down, find electrons, and become helium atoms - an inert, fun-making
balloon
> filler.
>
> Beta particles are electrons that are ejected rapidly from the nucleus
of a
> radioactive atom. Beta particles are light - 1/1860 of a proton while
Alpha
> particles weigh 4 protons worth. For further reference, hydrogen is 1
and
> carbon is 12. Beta particles carry a single negative charge and can
penetrate
> human tissue for a short distance. While this short penetration is going
on,
> the charge on the beta causes ionization changes to atoms along its path.
> Clothing will stop beta particles easily. The greatest danger presented
by
> beta particles is to the eye. Exposure of human eyes to beta particles
is not
> at all good. When beta particles slow down (loose energy) they become
> electrons and enter the normal world of electrons, chemistry and
electricity.
>
> A rare particle emitted by some radioactive atoms is a neutron, an
uncharged
> particle with a weight of 1. Fast neutrons can pass right through people
> without doing much damage (depending on how many there are), while slow
> neutrons can interact with hydrogen in a body and then decay into a
proton and
> a beta particle right there inside. A fast neutron can (rarely) hit an
atomic
> nucleus in your body so hard the atom's nucleus is knocked away from its
> electrons. This makes a very heavy, highly charged particle right
inside a
> cell. That displaced atom particle can many unwanted changes before it
finds
> electrons and becomes an atom again. Neutron emissions are most often
> associated with nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs and are not usually a
> problem in every day life.
>
> Gamma rays are very penetrating, very energetic, and very damaging. Long
term
> exposure to even a small gamma source has serious health consequences
because
> the damage keeps adding up. This is the reason radioactive materials are
> generally kept away from the general public and not used in objects of
> commerce. A person might get an unintended, unknown exposure to
ionizing
> radiation over a long period of time and that would cause health
problems.
> Gamma rays from a source across a room can contribute to the general
exposure
> you get throughout your life. If it is possible to prevent needless
exposure,
> we should do so.
>
> What radiation should we worry about?
>
> Sunburn!! For most people in the United States sunburn is the most
important
> radiation danger. Wear sunscreen and a big hat.
>
> Radon!! In some parts of the country there is enough naturally occurring
> radioactive material in the rocks that underlay the houses that radon gas
will
> build up in basements. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas
that is
> very heavy and collects in low places with bad ventilation. Radon decays
into
> another radioactive element that is not a gas. The problem with radon is
that
> it can be inhaled and, once in a lung stays there until it decays. The
decay
> emits ionizing radiation and deposits another radioactive atom in the
lung.
> Very bad. In the basement, radon decay can result in significant
radioactive
> dust that is inhalable and also bad. The danger from radon is well known
in
> the areas where it occurs and simple tests are available to assure one's
house
> is radon free.
>
> Cosmic Rays!! There are a significant number of people whose most
important
> radiation exposure comes from outer space. Cosmic rays - very fast large
> atomic nuclei hit atoms in earth s upper atmosphere and generate Gamma
rays.
> People who spend lots of time in airliners are exposed to many of these
gamma
> rays. People who live on mountains are exposed to these gamma rays.
People
> who live in caves are not exposed to these gamma rays but may be exposed
to
> radon. Humm.
>
> Rocks!! Rocks containing lots of potassium - like granite and Custer
feldspar
> - contain potassium, some of which is radioactive. Potassium 40 is
naturally
> occurring and radioactive. when it decays, it produces gamma rays.
> Fortunately, not much of the potassium is potassium 40 but if you live in
an
> area where the underlying rock is granite, you are exposed to more
radiation
> than is someone how lives in a limestone area. Other rocks, in very
special
> circumstances, are ores for radioactive elements. any of these in large
> quantities will increase your radiation exposure. A miner working in
granite
> to extract uranium ore will get quite a bit of exposure.
>
> These things are the most common sources of natural exposure to ionizing
> radiation. In generally, if you are in an average environment, the
radiation
> exposure you get during your life time will have no noticeable effect.
If you
> are unlucky, or not careful, you might get skin cancer or cataracts.
>
> What about not-average environments? What precautions can be taken?
Don't
> collect pre-world war II Fiesta ware or smoke glass. If you do, don't
sleep
> with it or keep it really close to you. Don't purchase or otherwise
obtain
> any radioactive materials. Having some Uranium Oxide to play around with
can
> easily lead to ingestion of Uranium oxide and you have a radioactive
source on
> the inside. Not good. If your house is in a radon area, buy a test kit
and
> use it. Respect warning signs that indicate radiation areas or
radioactive
> materials. Some industrial or medical processes use strong radiation
sources.
> Do not assume that someone put that sign up by mistake.
>
> There have been some tragic radiation poisonings since our world became
> atomic. Most of these resulted from ignorance, some from carelessness.
The
> Nuclear Power Industry, for all its faults, can claim that no one has
died of
> radiation exposure from a commercial power reactor. This is because of
safety
> measures, training, and constant monitoring. The scientific or military
world
> cannot claim the same sort of record. Marie Curie - famous radiation
pioneer
> - died of radiation induced leukemia. It took a long time. Her husband
would
> probably have been similarly affected but he was run over by a horse cart
and
> killed. The famous radium victims of Ottawa, Illinois were poisoned and
> killed by ingesting radium while painting watch dials. Think about that
the
> next time you lick a brush or pencil. At least one worker at Los Alamos
was
> killed by neutron radiation from a criticality accident during the
development
> of the atomic bomb. Another event with a similar result seems to have
taken
> place at West Valley, New York later on. There were radiation deaths
> associated with the bombing of Japan but these weren't accidents and the
> perpetrators were certainly informed, even if the victims weren't. There
are
> an unknown number of excess deaths from fallout resulting from weapons
testing
> in the atmosphere. This could be several thousand or tens of thousands,
but
> it is hard to say. Several military reactor operators were killed in a
"50's
> reactor accident. There were a couple radiation deaths associated with a
> particle accelerator when workmen ignored signs and entered a radiation
area.
> Lately, there were deaths in Mexico and Brazil when the containers of
medical
> radiation treatment equipment were broken open and the contents scattered
> around.
>
> All of these deaths, including the atomic bomb victims, are far fewer
than
> those caused by automobiles since 1945. They are even fewer than the
deaths
> caused by tobacco in the same time. You know about cars and you don't
care,
> you know about cigarettes and you don't care. Why do you care about
Uranium,
> because you don't know??
>
> Joseph Herbert
> JJHerb@aol.com
| |
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