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I found a polonium-loaded anti-static brush for photography in a box from my parents’ attic. Scared the shit out of me at first. Called the hazardous waste folk
by el_benhameen 4y ago
I found a polonium-loaded anti-static brush for photography in a box from my parents’ attic. Scared the shit out of me at first. Called the hazardous waste folks and had a fun chat with a perplexed employee. We finally decided that, as it was from the 70’s, it had long since decayed into harmlessness and was fine to throw away.
- kibwen 4y agoHow did you realize it once contained polonium?
- el_benhameen 4y agoIt had a big label on it that said “DANGER: POLONIUM. DO NOT INGEST”!
- bogeholm 4y agoA reasonable basis for the polonium hypothesis
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoIf only Alexander Litvinenko had such a warning…
- krasin 4y ago> polonium-loaded anti-static brush for photography At first, I was very surprised to hear it's a thing, but apparently it is and one can buy for just $170: https://amstat.com/products/anti-static-brush-with-ionizing-cartridge-1.html https://amstat.com/products/anti-static-brush-with-ionizing-...
- beeforpork 4y agoApplied Science youtube channel uses this and explains it a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHIp967TD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBHIp967TD8
- wkat4242 4y agoUhhh be careful with that reasoning. Some radioactive isotopes don't decay into stable isotopes but into other radioactive, sometimes more dangerous ones. It can be a whole chain until it reaches a stable element. Not sure about this particular polonium isotope. But don't expect something to be harmless after 10x the half-life per se.
- el_benhameen 4y agoThis is a good point and a fair concern. The brushes contain polonium-210, which we confirmed decays to lead-206. So not very good to eat, but not especially scary.