Radioactive Tiles

[Mike_2545]

Hi all,

I got a Geiger counter kit from Electronics Goldmine, just for fun. I knew that Gas lantern Mantles would give a positive result but I found the yellow tiles in my bathroom also gave off radiation, that was a surprise.

Check out the video here

The envelope contains a used gas lantern mantle.

 

[cr0sh]

Probably uses a similar pigment as old red FiestaWare dishes (which contained uranium oxide): The Straight Dope: Is red Fiestaware radioactive?

Red antique FiestaWare tends to command fairly good prices (something to keep in mind if you are collecting radioactive samples). You might try scouring antique stores, and see if you can find any other radioactive items (look for items from around the turn of the 20th century, up thru about the 1920s - lots of radioactive cure-alls were marketed around then).

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Many ceramics will be radioactive.

 

[birdman0_o]

Nice little radioactive shower you take every morning!

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

You should have seen the Geiger counter make all sorts of racket when I was injected with a radioactive trace element. I needed to stay away from everyone wearing dose badges. It took about 2 weeks for the radioactivity to go down.

 

[Mike_2545]

Yeah, I did realize some pottery would give results on a Geiger counter, but the tiles in my bathroom circa 1930 were a total surprise to me. I checked all the old ceramic pieces in my house but never expected to see the yellow tiles being of uranium origin ...


Gives one something to think about with older homes.

 

[ericgibbs]

Yeah, I did realize some pottery would give results on a Geiger counter, but the tiles in my bathroom circa 1930 were a total surprise to me. I checked all the old ceramic pieces in my house but never expected to see the yellow tiles being of uranium origin ...
Gives one something to think about with older homes.

hi Mike,
In about 25,000 years or so, you will have to start worrying about the Lead content in your tiles due to the radioactive decay of the Uranium.

If the Uranium doesn't get you the Lead will.!

On a more serious note I would check for Radon gas.
In some areas that have granite foundation rock, the cellars have to be fitted with Radon gas extractors, the gas is carcinogenic.

Eric

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

When I was at school, we did about radioactivity in Physics.

The teacher produced a geiger counter, and a radium sample - which was stored in a very strong, locked, lead lined, teak box, which was further kept in a locked safe.

After testing that, we tested the watches the class members were wearing, out of 30 odd kids, something like 15 were wearing watches ten times (or higher) more radioactive then the locked away sample

 

[SABorn]

Its a matter of what type of radiation you are talking about.
There is background radiation every where, go out the garden and check the rocks, or your granite bench top.

Radiation is with us in every day life and a gadget that goes beep, buzz, whistle, and farts, dont tell you a lot unless you understand what it is you are looking at and what form of radiation you are dealing with.

For interest all early watch faces was painted with a beta radiation compound so they glowed in the dark, all is fine with a glass or plastic layer over the face of the watch. but in early years this was hand applied with a brush and the women (normally due to their finer motor skills) would point the brush in their mouth to get a fine tip, this lead to mouth and throat cancer, but had no effect on the user as the watch face blocked the radiation.

I was trained and licensed to handle radioactive material for use in oilfield applications from sources to trace materials, to start with i was **** scared of this stuff, but with education and understanding (plus respect) radiation is not a instant killer and as bad as we all first think, its like electricity it can kill you but understood and respected it is quite safe.

Many products i worked with had a 300 year half life and needed respect when handled, but are safe when used correctly.

The first thing you learn is just how much natural radiation is around us in everyday life (background radiation) and its all comes down to timed exposure no matter what the source is.

Dont be scared of your tiles, or the rocks in your garden, as it would take years of constant contact to emit enough radiation to cause an effect, and even then you would want to have your underpants lined with these materials to be of a dangerous level.

If you want a source to be concerned about go check you microwave.

Radiation is a natural part of our lives and its only the high concentrations in gama form that is of most danger.

Pete.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If you want a source to be concerned about go check you microwave.

I didn't think there was any radioactivity (other than background) in a microwave oven?, you're not just talking about the microwave RF energy are you?, which has nothing to do with radioactivity, and doesn't leak out of the oven except for minute amounts (a LOT, LOT less than a cellphone).

 

[SABorn]

Yes you are correct with the microwave, my point was (and put badly) the perceived radiation from a microwave is no worse than the tiles on the wall.

And the mobile phone point is also worth a look at, as if i gave you a mild radioactive source and asked you to carry it in your pocket next to your family jewels everyday you would tell me to get stuffed, but we except a phone without question??

Pete.

 

[audioguru]

I was up in a microwave transmitting tower and was given a "radiation" detector to carry. I was told that if it alarmed then I had 2 seconds to get out before being cooked. Luckily it didn't alarm and I didn't get cooked.

I also got injected with a nuclear substance for a medical test. I didn't feel a thing but it came packed in a huge lead container. They told me to stay away from pregnant women and tiny babies for a couple of days.

 

[cr0sh]

Yes you are correct with the microwave, my point was (and put badly) the perceived radiation from a microwave is no worse than the tiles on the wall.

And the mobile phone point is also worth a look at, as if i gave you a mild radioactive source and asked you to carry it in your pocket next to your family jewels everyday you would tell me to get stuffed, but we except a phone without question??

Pete.

Ionizing vs. Non-ionizing radiation - learn it, know it, love it:

Ionizing radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Non-ionizing radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That isn't to say you should stand next to an operating, unshielded (and/or focused) high-power microwave source (ie, a magnetron - for intstance) - but you are likely to receive more damage from walking in the sun than you are from a leaky microwave oven or a cell phone...

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

but you are likely to receive more damage from walking in the sun than you are from a leaky microwave oven or a cell phone...

First off, microwave ovens don't leak - it would be EXTREMELY unlikely for one to, and I've tested hundreds.

The permitted levels in the USA are 0.5mW at 5cm (or something like that distance), it's actually 5mW in the UK - but you never see one anywhere close to even 0.5mW.

A cellphone can transmit about 5W, right next to your brain - you can hardly compare the two

 

[SABorn]

but you are likely to receive more damage from walking in the sun than you are from a leaky microwave oven or a cell phone...

Do you think putting sunscreen on my cell phone will help.

Back in the 70's we use to go to the beach, get burnt red, blister and peel, then do it all again.
Now we are told of the warnings and promote ....Slip, Slop, Slap ..... when exposed to the sun.

I wonder what the future will hold with cell phones, and the risk.
It might take until we start to grow a 3rd ear before marketing excepts there could be a risk.

Do you remember all those great cigarette adds on tv some years back???

Pete.

 

[nsaspook]

The vast majority of cell phones are transmitting power in the milliwatt range during most usage. The odds of tripping over something while talking/texting and breaking your neck or being hurt a car wreak are vastly more likely than any possible chance of a brain tumor due to cell phones.

**broken link removed**
If you walk and use a cell phone, watch out | National | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

 

[transistor495]

I'm asking is there any easiest way to make that Geiger detector tube? Rest of the circuit is easy

Sounds something like old 'coherer' for detecting radio waves.

 

[cr0sh]

I'm asking is there any easiest way to make that Geiger detector tube? Rest of the circuit is easy

Sounds something like old 'coherer' for detecting radio waves.

Well - looking at this (though I am not sure if this is the same as used in that circuit):

Geiger–Müller tube

It is probably possible to homebrew, provided you have a vacuum pump that can pull the needed level and the required gases...

BTW - your post about a "coherer" made me think back to the book I'm currently reading, Erik Larson's "Thunderstruck":

https://www.amazon.com/Thunderstruck-Erik-Larson/dp/1400080665

 

[transistor495]

Thanks crosh for the reply.

I've done a search and found a very interesting circuit for the detector:

Teralab - Geiger Counter Electronics

Centronic sells GM tubes in India too. The detector is indeed a nice fun

 

[HiTech]

Thorium gas mantles offer a big advantage because the thorium can incandesce at very high temperatures without melting, and are much brighter than ordinary lamps. Thorium's radioactivity is mostly emitted as alpha particles, which only travel a couple centimeters in air and can be stopped by a sheet of ordinary paper. A study conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1981 concluded that using a Coleman-type lantern with thorium mantles every other weekend for a year would expose you to a radiation dose of 0.3 to 0.6 millirems, far less than the normal background dose of a few hundred millirems per year. You don't want to carry thorium mantles in your pocket, though, or inhale or ingest the dust from a burnt mantle. With thorium atoms parked in your lungs or liver, your exposure would shoot up to 200 millirems per year. *

* excerpts taken from https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2482/are-camp-lanterns-radioactive

BTW, I didn't know that little Geiger kit from Elect Goldmine was that sensitive. I have a Vistoreen Civil Defense model detector with a 25' reach ion chamber designed to be tossed out a bunker door to measure the high levels from the BIG ONE or from a dirty bomb.