Radioactive Day-to-Day Items

Until relatively recently, some radioactive materials were commonly used in everyday items. While these items are radioactive, they are generally not harmful because the quantities of radioactive material are usually low. Furthermore, toxic isotopes were either rarely used or have decayed over time.

Uranium Paint

Uranium-painted ceramics are quite common and can be found at many flea markets or antique stores. I came across some old plates decorated with bright orange uranium paint at a thrift shop. These plates are moderately radioactive, primarily emitting beta radiation. The second piece, in particular, caught my attention due to its unique shape.

Uranium Glassware

Uranium glass was mass-produced during the 20th century and remains widely available in antique stores and flea markets today. Interestingly, I grew up with a piece of uranium glassware at home without realizing it. Only a small amount of uranium is required to achieve the distinctive color, hence uranium glass contains only a minimal amount of the element and is far less radioactive than the previously discussed ceramics. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, uranium glass fluoresces in a beautiful green glow.

Spark Gap Tube

I found this old spark gap tube on ebay. The tube contains a small amount of Cesium-137 to pre-ionize the gas inside the tube and therefore reduce its breakdown voltage. Since the tube is quite old, most of the Cesium has decayed.

Radioactive Minerals

During a holiday in Europe's Black Forest region, I visited the Schmiedestollen tailings in the village of Wittichen. I had previously researched that uranium ore, in particular Uranium Dioxide (Pitchblende), could be collected. I was initially skeptical if I would find anything, but approaching the tailings, my geiger counters quickly detected increased levels of radiation. An abundance of fellow collectors also convinced me that minerals could be found.

Finding radioactive minerals using a simple geiger counter turned out to be rather difficult. The counting rate on the entire dumpsite was rather high, so it was not possible to distinguish between radioactive and non-radioactive rocks. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that radioactive minerals are very abundant in Wittichen. I was easily able to find large amounts of radioactive rocks, but unfortunately did not find pretty minerals. The rocks collected in Wittichen are easily detectable using my geiger counters. I don't know the exact radioactive mineral contained in these rocks. I created a gamma spectrum of the rocks that indicated the characteristic decay chain of uranium.

After a few hours of collecting, I had a bucket full of radioactive rocks. I did not find any nice minerals and ended up collecting a few of the smaller pieces.