The question of radioactivity in alloys

Bob Denman said:
For those of us who start getting dizzy at a million: how big are those numbers?
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It's a trillion millions.

visalakshi-quintillion-01-1619083018.png
 
There used to be a market for steel from before ww2, because all steel made after ww2 was radioactive. Because of the radiation in the air worldwide.

Now they say the radioactive level in the air is back to normal.
 
SVB said:
Thanks to all you guys for the great tips. My worries dissipated! Great community and answers. Awesome! :)
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if you want some good science watch this: (they talk about bananas - but it's applicable to all of these trace element situations) - and technically, since you eat them, much more of a possible impact over any knife use :P

 
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lambertiana said:
It's all about relative risk. Note also that it does not matter if it is a carbide or in elemental form, the radioactive decay is the same. But for the elements that you list:

Molybdenum is about 9.74% Mo100, but it is a beta emitter, which won't even penetrate your skin.
Tungsten is 99.88% stable isotopes, so there is no real risk there.
Vanadium is 99.75% stable isotopes.

Step outside on a sunny day and you will get far more ionizing radiation that you will from your knives. Then add in the normal background from the soil and rocks under your feet (and incorporated into concrete and other construction materials) and all bets are off.

If you only knew what is in the water you drink (tap and bottled are the same, unless they are run through an RO or ion exchanger). I work in a lab that tests drinking water, and I have seen a lot of samples of drinking water that I wouldn't touch. There is an area in the Sierra foothills near where I live where there is a lot of uranium in the water, making it up 50 times the safe limit. There are many places around here with a lot of arsenic. Add to that the decades of pesticide use, which shows up in the water. And now we are just beginning to get a grasp of the magnitude of the PFAS contamination in groundwater that is found in drinking water all around the country - if your drinking water comes from sources that are less than a mile from an airport of any size, including small private airfields, and military airfields, I would be very concerned. I recently saw the results for a city that has 34 drinking water wells, and 31 are contaminated with PFAS.

People get all worked up about things. After Fukushima, the government announced that radiation from Fukushima was detected on the west coast of the US. I got a lot of calls from panicked people who thought they were going to die and wanted their water tested. It turns out that the level detected was about 1/80,000 of our normal background radiation.

It's all about relative risk. The same people who were in a panic about Fukushima radiation on the west coast of the US probably smoke, drive fast, text while driving, eat a poor diet, and don't exercise. Go figure.
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Thank you for saving me the trouble of posting a response!

I wish more people would avail themselves of the opportunity to complete at least one chemistry or physics class in high school or college or both. Our society and culture would improve rapidly for a variety of reasons.
 
I completed one of each: but it was about a 1000 years ago...
I've had WAY too much time to clutter up my head with useless junk since then!
 
rhino said:
Thank you for saving me the trouble of posting a response!

I wish more people would avail themselves of the opportunity to complete at least one chemistry or physics class in high school or college or both. Our society and culture would improve rapidly for a variety of reasons.
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Yes, then people can apply simple models like the octet rule to their daily lives!
 
Get rid of your knives or all your limbs are going to fall off and that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.
 
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Give me a good enough radiation detector (and they do exist) - I can measure the radioactivity of the fillings in your teeth.

However, I understand your concern and completely sympathize. Hence, I am more than willing to solve your problem by taking these highly dangerous radioactive-spewing weapons of mass destruction off your hands. I've PMd the OP with my address. I'll even pay shippning.

I know, I know, please don't thank me; it's no problem for me doing what I consider the Lord's work.
 
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