3 ms·

Uranium ore is about as dangerous as a fierce banana habit.

DeusExMachina 3y ago
According to this Stack Exchange Physics answer, your assessment seems to be correct: https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/608612 https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/608612
CydeWeys 3y ago
Yup. Can anyone point to even any injuries caused by this kit? Meanwhile, kids were actually killed by lawn darts, and plenty of kids have died on bicycles (though the ultimate fault there typically lies with cars).
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- bagacrap 3y ago
  > Estimates place the number of child trampoline-related injuries in a one-year period to be around 100,000.
  - CydeWeys 3y ago
    A strong contender. Also, backyard pools kill a lot of kids :(
- zyx321 3y ago
  The radiation is not the part I'd be worried about, but uranium is about as toxic as lead. And a chemistry set that contains brittle lead ores/alloys that "tend to flake and crumble" is not something I'd want a 12 year old using unsupervised. Nor would I trust the vast majority of adults for that matter...
  - 57FkMytWjyFu 3y ago
    Uranium ore != Uranium.
- TX81Z 3y ago
  I thought from headline it would be lawn darts.
mrob 3y ago
"Banana equivalent dose" is a misleading concept, because the body actively regulates potassium levels. It's very unlikely that somebody with healthy kidneys could give themselves hyperkalemia by eating bananas, and if they somehow did, the radiation would be the least of their concerns.
- shagie 3y ago
  You would probably hit other problems with eating that many bananas before you got close to problematic levels. It's more useful for things like "living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant for a year (0.3 µSv) is the equivalent of eating 3 bananas (0.1 µSv each)." Relevant xkcd - https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/ Note also the "Yearly dose from natural potassium in the body 390 µSv"
  - kqr 3y ago
    Is that yearly number the mean or the median or an upper percentile?
gweinberg 3y ago
Bananas are a double threat. Not only is there a radiation hazard, but you can slip on the peel.

According to this Stack Exchange Physics answer, your assessment seems to be correct: https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/608612 https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/608612

CydeWeys 3y ago

Yup. Can anyone point to even any injuries caused by this kit? Meanwhile, kids were actually killed by lawn darts, and plenty of kids have died on bicycles (though the ultimate fault there typically lies with cars).

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
bagacrap 3y ago
> Estimates place the number of child trampoline-related injuries in a one-year period to be around 100,000.
- CydeWeys 3y ago
  A strong contender. Also, backyard pools kill a lot of kids :(
zyx321 3y ago
The radiation is not the part I'd be worried about, but uranium is about as toxic as lead. And a chemistry set that contains brittle lead ores/alloys that "tend to flake and crumble" is not something I'd want a 12 year old using unsupervised. Nor would I trust the vast majority of adults for that matter...
- 57FkMytWjyFu 3y ago
  Uranium ore != Uranium.
TX81Z 3y ago
I thought from headline it would be lawn darts.

mrob 3y ago

"Banana equivalent dose" is a misleading concept, because the body actively regulates potassium levels. It's very unlikely that somebody with healthy kidneys could give themselves hyperkalemia by eating bananas, and if they somehow did, the radiation would be the least of their concerns.

shagie 3y ago
You would probably hit other problems with eating that many bananas before you got close to problematic levels. It's more useful for things like "living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant for a year (0.3 µSv) is the equivalent of eating 3 bananas (0.1 µSv each)." Relevant xkcd - https://xkcd.com/radiation/ https://xkcd.com/radiation/ Note also the "Yearly dose from natural potassium in the body 390 µSv"
- kqr 3y ago
  Is that yearly number the mean or the median or an upper percentile?

gweinberg 3y ago

Bananas are a double threat. Not only is there a radiation hazard, but you can slip on the peel.