Radioactive particles on Fife beach caused by WW2 aircraft instruments

One problem with radium paint and its emissions is that no one has any idea of the rate of decay of radioactive particles and two identical instruments could have been painted with the same brush from the same container on the production line and one will decompose quicker than the other. The harmful side of things comes from the amount of exposure to high levels of emissions, so sitting in the cockpit of old aircraft isn’t always going to be harmful, but depending on the amount of radiation being produced, prolonged exposure will have adverse affects. Having taken a Geiger counter to an instrument store, where the gauges were stored in a steel container and read high readings through the concrete walls on the outside of the buildings means that there are significant risks. Kind of alarmed me at the time!

Museums have been subject to this for years – East Fortune is a particular example; SEPA and NRPB officials visited the site on numerous occasions. Readings are taken from all instruments in cockpits and in store and other likely sources and a total amount of radiation based on the units collected – I can’t remember what these are – and this information goes on a database. Each year the amount is reviewed and if it has increased significantly, the museum is likely to face fines, this is usually because the museum has acquired instruments or other radioactive equipment without having it tested. This is all because it was decided that the public should not be deliberately exposed to this stuff through museum displays etc. A number of years ago the Science Museum was fined a very large sum of money as a result of exceeding its total output.

Question. How does one check a Reid and Sigrist Turn and Slip gyro before parting with coins of the realm? By putting it to one’s lips and sucking as hard as one can, then bung it in one’s ear’ole and listen to the bearings rattle. Oh by the way lots of them are “see in the dark”. Can anyone tell me if what I have been doing for nigh on 57 years is as dangerous as one is told ? I have many thousands of hours flying behind said “see in the dark” instruments in Tiger, Austers Dragon Fox Ad nauseum, and the DC3 of course had UV lighting to make them shine even brighter. Same nonsense goes for asbestos brake linings, isocyanate paints and 245T weed killer. At 74 all that plus lots of saw and sanding dust don’t seem to have done me too much harm. Get A Grip, go out and enjoy what you are doing and it is only the good Lord who will decide on when where and from what you will die. Good Luck

Some announcements due regarding this location http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-25769900

Things aren’t getting any better at Kinloss http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18136765

Things aren’t getting any better at Kinloss http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18136765

How dangerous is this stuff?
When I was a kid I got my dads old watches, scraped off the fluorescent paint and PLAYED WITH IT!
I’m still alive btw.

The active ingredient is Radium Dibromide but only a small fraction of the paint is this substance. If the paint is dry and the dust inhaled it wouldn’t do you much good as the alpha radiation it gives off would be able to penetrate the lung tissue and cause cancer. Alpha can’t penetrate skin though and wouldn’t hang around in the gut long enough to do any significant damage before being evacuated. The Radium also gives off gamma rays but the quantities of radium involved are probably insufficient to cause any harm. Gamma is the most energetic type of radiation but only a tiny fraction of gamma actually interacts with body tissue (most just passes through like neutrinos through the earth) and, unless the source is very large, it’s relatively harmless.The beta radiation emitted is relatively harmless too.
Jim

How dangerous is this stuff?
When I was a kid I got my dads old watches, scraped off the fluorescent paint and PLAYED WITH IT!
I’m still alive btw.

The active ingredient is Radium Dibromide but only a small fraction of the paint is this substance. If the paint is dry and the dust inhaled it wouldn’t do you much good as the alpha radiation it gives off would be able to penetrate the lung tissue and cause cancer. Alpha can’t penetrate skin though and wouldn’t hang around in the gut long enough to do any significant damage before being evacuated. The Radium also gives off gamma rays but the quantities of radium involved are probably insufficient to cause any harm. Gamma is the most energetic type of radiation but only a tiny fraction of gamma actually interacts with body tissue (most just passes through like neutrinos through the earth) and, unless the source is very large, it’s relatively harmless.The beta radiation emitted is relatively harmless too.
Jim

AndyG – I don’t disagree, but as I was always told ‘two wrongs don’t make a right!’

Hapmpden98 – the particles can prove fatal if ingested.

AndyG – I don’t disagree, but as I was always told ‘two wrongs don’t make a right!’

Hapmpden98 – the particles can prove fatal if ingested.

How dangerous is this stuff?
When I was a kid I got my dads old watches, scraped off the fluorescent paint and PLAYED WITH IT!
I’m still alive btw.

How dangerous is this stuff?
When I was a kid I got my dads old watches, scraped off the fluorescent paint and PLAYED WITH IT!
I’m still alive btw.

The vast quantities of highly radioactive materials continuing to be emitted and poured into the Pacific Ocean from Fukishima, certainly lend a little welcome perspective on this particular side show.

The vast quantities of highly radioactive materials continuing to be emitted and poured into the Pacific Ocean from Fukishima, certainly lend a little welcome perspective on this particular side show.

Just spotted this one re-Kinloss http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18122594

Just spotted this one re-Kinloss http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18122594

Hystrical nonsense

It is more than probable that this uproar regarding the discovery of Radium on the beaches in the area is fueled by fear of loosing house values than any true sense of danger from the product itself.

However it should be pointed out to those having this problem that the risks of receiving anything near a fatal dose even over a long period of time are far outwieghed by the risk posed from Radon gas eminating from the natural bedrock beneath the properties these people so fear to loose value from and which is known to collect in homes and buildings in quantities that can be harmful to health over the short term.

So it could be argued that it is more than likley that it is the afore mentioned homes that pose the greatest potential threat rather than what might be washed up on the nearby beaches.:diablo:

As for locked cockpits, fair precaution really being as Radon gas is also a decay product of Radium impregnated paint materials and like homes can collect in significant quantities in areas of low air circulation also like it’s parent can contain significant Alpha and Gamma ray emissions.

Good case really for wheeling them outside every now and again and giving them a good airing out, and of course the chance of great photo shoots as well.:cool:

Hystrical nonsense

It is more than probable that this uproar regarding the discovery of Radium on the beaches in the area is fueled by fear of loosing house values than any true sense of danger from the product itself.

However it should be pointed out to those having this problem that the risks of receiving anything near a fatal dose even over a long period of time are far outwieghed by the risk posed from Radon gas eminating from the natural bedrock beneath the properties these people so fear to loose value from and which is known to collect in homes and buildings in quantities that can be harmful to health over the short term.

So it could be argued that it is more than likley that it is the afore mentioned homes that pose the greatest potential threat rather than what might be washed up on the nearby beaches.:diablo:

As for locked cockpits, fair precaution really being as Radon gas is also a decay product of Radium impregnated paint materials and like homes can collect in significant quantities in areas of low air circulation also like it’s parent can contain significant Alpha and Gamma ray emissions.

Good case really for wheeling them outside every now and again and giving them a good airing out, and of course the chance of great photo shoots as well.:cool:

I caught this programme on Radio 4 while having a lunch break last week at Kew.

Thought some of you may find it interesting:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01gw1dp/Face_the_Facts_Radioactive_Legacy/

I caught this programme on Radio 4 while having a lunch break last week at Kew.

Thought some of you may find it interesting:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01gw1dp/Face_the_Facts_Radioactive_Legacy/