Are our knives radioactive?

D

digdeep

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Was reading an article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/world/asia/24india.html?_r=1 and got to thinking about the safety of our metal imports.

Many of us own knives which were manufactured overseas but how do we know without testing that the metal used in our knives is not radioactive? Hope this post is not interpreted to stir up fear mongering. That is sincerely not my intention. It's just plain curiosity. I would suspect that radiation detection is probably not done at the country of origin.

From what I could gather in doing a search, the government is in the process of installing radiation portal devices to detect nuclear contaminated imports. Apparently 100% of imports will be scanned but I could not verify that that is presently the case.

And this from a German news website: "German authorities in recent months have found a disturbingly large amount of radioactive steel in factories across the country. Much of the contaminated metal is thought to have originated in India."

Any comments?
 
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Wow I can honestly say this has never crossed my mind but I would love to know now if one of my knives were

But then again how could I just give up one of my loved blades!
 
well the article was definitely a good read. Though I don't think the steel in my knives is radioactive. Though if they were . . . well I'd probably would still carry it regardless.
 
Qatar knives radioactive?

That I can categorically answer in one word: yes.

Just about 100% of steel is radioactive.... but most is not anywhere near radioactive enough to pose a hazard. The real hazard is in "pot steel", steel which is not a specific alloy but is just about 100% recycled material.
 
I have thought about this for a while now, especially when I got my superblue Caly 3.5 from Japan.

I have access to a Geiger counter and will give feedback soon in this thread.
 
digdeep said:
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And this from a German news website: "German authorities in recent months have found a disturbingly large amount of radioactive steel in factories across the country. Much of the contaminated metal is thought to have originated in India."
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I work in a factory and want to know. Requesting link to that german article
 
I dont know if it helps in any way since it's in German, but here is one news article on that subject. And I don't remember any other articles with any more info.

Basically they received 150 tons of radioactive steel or alloys sine 2008 mostly from India which were secured by the Agency that deals with radiation protection. THey say most of it was stainless round bar steel but also finished products for machinery like for example valves. They were not sure how it came to this but one guess they mention in that news article is that it might be caused by some cobalt-60. If that is the case and if there are no other significant sources it could be interesting when working with alloys that contain a lot of cobalt.
The news article also said that this affects not only Germany but many other countries as well and that they're trying to mutually (with other countries) prevent any more of these kind of shipments from India.

PS.: I like that cherenkov theory... :D
 
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McGrain said:
I work in a factory and want to know. Requesting link to that german article
Click to expand...
Sorry I didn't put the link in my post. Here it is: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,607840,00.html

And futhermore in the same article: "Just how the radioactive isotope cobalt 60, which can be found in nuclear power stations or some medical technology, is finding its way into the Indian steel industry isn't completely clear. It may be that sources of radioactivity, from hospitals for example, are being thrown into blast furnaces along with other scrap. The resulting steel is then sold to to companies abroad."
 
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Guess I'll have to buy a geiger counter one of these days. Did a Wiki search on cobalt 60 and apparently this kind of thing happens more than you'd think.
 
shunsui said:
Guess I'll have to buy a geiger counter one of these days. Did a Wiki search on cobalt 60 and apparently this kind of thing happens more than you'd think.
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Actually, you would want a scintillation counter for a more broad spectrum of radiation.
 
Guys, if you are going to worry about trace amounts of radioactivity, kill yourselves now. Radioactivity is everywhere. There are radioactive isotopes of iron that are actually a bit hotter than co60. For that matter, there are naturally occurring radioactive materials in soil, water and air. Have you ever gone outdoors during the day? You were bombarded with solar radiation. If you only go out at night, you get cosmic radiation anyway. If you get ahold of a low level radiation detector like the Navy RM-3, you'll soon discover it never shuts up as long as it is turned on.
 
India is the world's largest ship salvage site, and perhaps may be the world's biggest steel re-cycling country.
If any of the ships cut apart had some kind of contact with radioactive cargo, or hauling uranium ore, or nuclear waste, or whatever, it could be contaminated.
Once it goes in the pot, then everything in there with it is contaminated.

As others have mentioned, it all depends on the amount of radiation involved.
We are all taking small doses of radiation from all kinds of sources every day. The key is to not take too much.
 
yablanowitz said:
Guys, if you are going to worry about trace amounts of radioactivity, kill yourselves now. Radioactivity is everywhere. There are radioactive isotopes of iron that are actually a bit hotter than co60. For that matter, there are naturally occurring radioactive materials in soil, water and air. Have you ever gone outdoors during the day? You were bombarded with solar radiation. If you only go out at night, you get cosmic radiation anyway. If you get ahold of a low level radiation detector like the Navy RM-3, you'll soon discover it never shuts up as long as it is turned on.
Click to expand...

+1, Radiation is everywhere. The Cosmos are full of it
 
If it is Cobalt-60...it gives off two gamma rays @ 1.17 and 1.33 Mev for an average energy of 1.25 Mev. What I can say...is that if you ever develop any "redness" (erythema) on your leg, beneath where you carry the knive in your Levis, then perhaps you should start carrying a gun instead. Not for self-protection, but for self-destruction when you develop bone cancer. A geiger counter, scintillation counter, or ion chamber will all work okay for detection. I'd much prefer to spend that money on a Hinderer XM-18.
Much of this is a joke, as you know, since this is BS scare tactics of some sort. Trace elements of radioactive materials are in "everything" but they won't hurt you in such small amounts. If nothing else, and you're afraid, then you should buy better steels in your knives. If you carry cheap junk anyway, that's called "survival of the fittest."

If you'd prefer to be informed about more realistic dangers, then consider a "radon" kit for your basement. Radon is a radioactive gas, which CAN kill you, caused by breakdown of uranium in the ground, and this stuff exists in certain geographic areas, all over the U.S. You can buy a kit for about $6 from Lowes or Home Depot. Living in PA, I had to install special fans and venting in the "sub-basement" when I built a new home in order to pass state building codes.

Sonny (retired medical radiation physicist)

p.s. You're more likely to die because of your mother-in-law.
 
I'm surprised none of the usual suspects have tried to market a super tacticool depleted uranium blade! :cool:
 
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