Radioactive material in smoke detectors???

I'm surprised nobody mentioned "natural" radiation of glass (windows emit some radiation) and radon accumulating in cellars unless properly ventilated. I'd be far more worried about radon poisoning than a single household smoke detector (or a truckful of smoke deetectors blown up by "terrorists") if i were you. Radon is gas and is easy to get inside you (by inhalation) where it can cause more damage. Since it naturally comes from the ground it's impossible to get rid of all of it, you have to keep your cellars and/or old buildings ventilated.

Few interesting/concerning tidbits (near the top of the page) and further information on radon: http://www.epa.gov/radon/
 
79mongoose said:
I was reading that there was radioactive material used inside smoke detectors. I dont know how i feel about having radioactive material in my house.
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You are at unimaginably higher risk from house fire than you are from any possible risk associated with smoke detectors.

"According to statistics from the National Fire Protection Association, there were 388,500 reported home fires in the United States in 2003, which resulted in 3,145 deaths and 13,650 injuries.

Fire officials said that in 1999 - the last year for which statistics are available - roughly 70 percent of fire deaths occurred in homes without operable smoke detectors."

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2005/01/03firedeathsupfro.html

I have been unable to trace any reports of injuries caused by smoke detectors... ;)

"...it now appears that of all the radiation exposure that the average person in this country is subjected to, some 82% is from sources that occur naturally in the environment. No place is exempt from this radiation. There is literally no place in the world that is entirely free from ionizing radiation."

http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/lstpart2-4.htm

maximus otter
 
Rofl, I designed a neutron gun, only using Po 210 as an alpha source and paraffin as a moderator, when I was in high school, though I tend to value my hide and didn't try to actually try to build it (btw cadmium would have been a better moderator).

I love the way they freaked out and assumed he had an atomic bomb (people really shouldn't sleep through high school physics class!). We are surrounded by radiation so it would be nice if people actually learned a bit about it.

There are things to be concerned about like Chernobyl, the plutonium release from SNAP 9A and other large scale accidents. Occupational hazards like those to the people who mine yellow cake or live near the mine tailings. Not to mention historical concerns like the accidental and intentional experiments performed on the public that we never learned about until the freedom of information act made some of the documents public: http://archive.tri-cityherald.com/thyroid/timeline.html http://www.doh.wa.gov/hanford/publications/health/mon3.htm
http://seekers.100megs6.com/HExperiment.htm (could be a few of those reports of those black helecopters and cattle mutilations were related to those secret atomic and biological tests... the UFO crackpots would have certainly helped to ward off public scrutiny).

And, there are things that aren't of that much concern like Dinosaur fossils, which are often radioactive, people who live in Denver get 3 times as much radiation as people in SF due to cosmic rays, and we all have radionucleides in us from atomic tests, dental x-rays and what not.
http://www.umich.edu/~radinfo/introduction/natural.htm
http://www.vh.org/adult/patient/cancercenter/prevention/preventionradiation.html

Interestingly the earth's magnetic field is weakening and may vanish in 1,000 years as the earth does a pole flip, so our descendants may get a good dose of cosmic radiation for a few years.
 
K.V. Collucci said:
Maybe if you read the sticky I posted at the top of the Community Forum I wouldn't have to move so many of your posts. 3 posts in the last 3 days. :rolleyes:

As taken from the above mentioned thread:


I don't know how much clearer I can be.
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PM headed your way. :D
 
Ken, i hear a rumor among the forumites that u sleep with each and every girl u put in your avatar, and that u take the pictures yourself? Is this real, and where can i sign up for T&E? Do u meet them thru the job, resqueing them out of burning house or is it the red firetruck that does the job?

Thank u
 
loki88 said:
Ken, i hear a rumor among the forumites that u sleep with each and every girl u put in your avatar, and that u take the pictures yourself? Is this real, and where can i sign up for T&E? Do u meet them thru the job, resqueing them out of burning house or is it the red firetruck that does the job?

Thank u
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This is a bit off topic but I will respond.

About 10 months ago I used a pic of a model by the name of Veronica Trollerud as my avatar. Veronica had started her own website and did a Google search of her name and my BFC avatar showed up. She clicked on the link and it directed her a post of mine with her pic as my avatar. She emailed me and after some friendly exchanges via email I made a decision to stop the Avatar Hotties. After a few weeks I spoke with someone that cleared up the whole copyright issue that as long as I post a link to the original source to the pics I can usethem as avatars. As an added bonus from all this I recieved an autographed and personalized pic of Veronica that now hangs in my firehouse locker.

The rumors, btw, are all false. :)
 
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