Radioactive Mod

[kwalka]

This is a quote from another venue. I am simply throwing this out there for discussion and possible answers:

Hi there,

I know it sound like an April 1st joke, but it's not

.

Last night went to my friend home with one of my mod (won't give the name..., but come from a polish modder), when i saw his Geiger counter...of course i took it to play a little with, probed my hand, my leg etc, messing around basically. And i tested on my mod...the Geiger counter gone crazy, my friend told me that the radiation was 19 times higher than the normal background radiation and definitely not safe for an everyday use. I will test with my atty too ASAP.

He too told me, that's something that happen quite a lot, since the contaminated SS usually is sold at low price....

My question is your mod radioactive too?

 

[redeme]

0.03mr/h is a base of radioactivity this could very well make sense it all depends on what setting the meter was on. 19 times normal activity is not alot it probably wont harm you im not a doctor or a specialist but there are certain types of dinner plates and bowls and drinking glasses that will meter way higher. You def. have peaked my curiosity tough and i will check my mod are you using a mesh wick.The reason i ask is you can use the mesh wicks from gas lanterns to check consistency of the meter this to will make the meter go crazy. there are lots of things in this world that are radioactive but i wouldnt worry too much..

 

[kwalka]

This isn't me. This is a quote from another vaper that I pasted here. I will in turn paste your reply to him. IDK if he's a member here.

 

[redeme]

Oh yes I see now I didnt see the whole post. Navigating this site on the phone app. Kinda difficult but this subject is interesting too me so some more info on this would be greatly appreciated..

 

[Jimi D.]

Plutonium mesh = no shorts LOL

 

[oldsoldier]

here is something that may be useful putting things into perspective:

Radiation, how much is considered safe for humans? - MIT News Office

Of course without levels and exposure rates we really don't know and radiation is a tricky subject -- especially when you consider that the radiation exposure is going to be concentrated in your rand(s) and unfortunately your face...

 

[oldsoldier]

It would be interesting to get more input from people that are medically / scientifically qualified to voice an opinion.

I can't just dismiss this... remember the Radium Girls?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls

The thought of sticking a radioactive PV in your face made me think of them...

 

[ShyDragon]

Oddly enough when the original person in the other venue was questioned she disappeared. Her story was met with a fair bit of skepticism. She ended up accusing people of being harsh and not reading the OP correctly, that she was just asking a question.

 

[Richard75]

One time in college I ventured out of my native chem lab and hung out the some of my physics buddies. One of them brought in what they called the "Uranium Bowl", which made a Geiger counter go nuts. We just threw it around and played with it.

Moral of the story is, there are lots of factors that go into radiation poisoning, such as rate of decay combined with time of exposure. Don't worry about it too much!

 

[ale george]

Ukrakia is a big steel exporter, that's why.

 

[redeme]

I recently tested my battery and dct tank and carto on an up to date meter. No measurable amount of radiation was detected. I have an apollo v tube. Thats not to say other materials such as metals and mesh cannot emit radiation because they can.. Richard 75 if you meter fiesta ware from the early days maybe sixties or seventies they will still make a meter go crazy. the story of radium and radiation is a very thrilling one starting with mary curie a story of love betrayal and death everyone should read about it.But anyway if someone has any concerns about mods or cartos and detects radiation please let us know thanks..

 

[Richard75]

I recently tested my battery and dct tank and carto on an up to date meter. No measurable amount of radiation was detected. I have an apollo v tube. Thats not to say other materials such as metals and mesh cannot emit radiation because they can.. Richard 75 if you meter fiesta ware from the early days maybe sixties or seventies they will still make a meter go crazy. the story of radium and radiation is a very thrilling one starting with mary curie a story of love betrayal and death everyone should read about it.But anyway if someone has any concerns about mods or cartos and detects radiation please let us know thanks..

I was assuming that this story was a joke... at least I hope it was. Not because I'm worried about radioactive mods, but I'm worried about scientific ignorance. Radioactive fiestaware resulted from the glaze, which (sometimes) contained uranium oxide. Even then, it was only ever applied to ceramic. No metal or base material used to make mods (or bowls, for that matter) have been unstable enough to decay. So unless someone starts making mods out of Cobalt-60, I'm thinking we're fine.

In rereading the first post, I'd also like to throw out there that contamination of a metal has happened, but really only after recycling (gone wrong). And it's rare enough that I'm not worried about it.

 

[redeme]

I'm not worried about the mods themselves I would be more worried about the mesh used in rebuildables.i don't have one or the mesh and I'm not making any claims but like I stated previously mesh wicks in gas lanterns are radioactive and can have significant readings.i don't even know if its the same stuff or if its radioactive. But I'm interested to know. That was my immediate thought when I first read the post.

 

[Richard75]

I'm not worried about the mods themselves I would be more worried about the mesh used in rebuildables.i don't have one or the mesh and I'm not making any claims but like I stated previously mesh wicks in gas lanterns are radioactive and can have significant readings.i don't even know if its the same stuff or if its radioactive. But I'm interested to know. That was my immediate thought when I first read the post.

Don't worry about mesh being radioactive. As long as it's stainless steel, there's no chance of decay.

The radioactive lanterns are pretty much a thing of the past. However, it wasn't the "wick" that was the problem. They used mesh that glows with heat (like an old fashioned light bulb), and the material was thorium dioxide. Essentially, it's purpose is nothing like what common stainless mesh is for. Plus, the mesh used for lanterns is almost a fabric, so there's no chance of confusing the two of them.

In other words... no worries. ;-)

 

[Veezy]

This is a quote from another venue. I am simply throwing this out there for discussion and possible answers:

Hi there,

I know it sound like an April 1st joke, but it's not

.

Last night went to my friend home with one of my mod (won't give the name..., but come from a polish modder), when i saw his Geiger counter...of course i took it to play a little with, probed my hand, my leg etc, messing around basically. And i tested on my mod...the Geiger counter gone crazy, my friend told me that the radiation was 19 times higher than the normal background radiation and definitely not safe for an everyday use. I will test with my atty too ASAP.

He too told me, that's something that happen quite a lot, since the contaminated SS usually is sold at low price....

My question is your mod radioactive too?

Iphone apps are bogus all for entertainment.

 

[Aflatoxin]

Steel being infinitely recyclable, always had this problem of contamination. But since the 80's in the US, every high volume scrap yard has been looking out for contaminated steel. They do so because the smelter is absolutely doing so. As you can imagine, it saves them a ton of money in the long run to NOT produce contaminated steels. "Cleaning a smelter of radioactive material that was erroneously melted inside can cost a company up to $53 million and disrupt production for a week".
The world is paying a big price, now that American steel is no longer controlling the market. American and Japanese steel is the best and cleanest. Germany used to be the best, but they started buying scrap-steel from India and now radiated steel is the number one problem they face!

Import problem:
"More than 120 shipments of contaminated goods, including cutlery, buckles and work tools such as hammers and screwdrivers, were denied U.S. entry between 2003 and 2008 after customs and the Department of Homeland Security boosted radiation monitoring at borders." It's easy to imagine, that in other countries, shipping containers full of radio active product AREN'T being turned away, and then those items are sold in smaller batches to us. ???

The growing global threat of radioactive scrap metal

Brass, a bigger concern?
I love brass. It's one of my favorite alloys. But I've learned that it usually has up to 2% lead in it. Do you want a brass drip-tip now? If you do, then you have already damaged your brain evidently!
I'm not scared of radio active steels. What I'd be afraid of is leaded brass. Brass is big in the e-cig world and getting bigger. Leaded brass is everywhere and virtually undetectable by the lay person. It's truly disgusting. I try and stay away from ALL brass if it is on something to be handed daily.

Nice thread BTW, THX!


Vape-on, friends!

 

[Truncheon]

I was assuming that this story was a joke... at least I hope it was. Not because I'm worried about radioactive mods, but I'm worried about scientific ignorance. Radioactive fiestaware resulted from the glaze, which (sometimes) contained uranium oxide. Even then, it was only ever applied to ceramic. No metal or base material used to make mods (or bowls, for that matter) have been unstable enough to decay. So unless someone starts making mods out of Cobalt-60, I'm thinking we're fine.

In rereading the first post, I'd also like to throw out there that contamination of a metal has happened, but really only after recycling (gone wrong). And it's rare enough that I'm not worried about it.

as far as i understand, it wasn't all glazes on the fiestaware that had uranium oxide - only certain yellows which used the uranium oxide gave off a radioactive signature.

uranium oxide was also used in metal/jewelry enamels during that time too, and as vitreous enamels and ceramic glazes are very similar in makeup (specialized smelted ground glass with various minerals/chemicals comprising them to produce particular colors), it could be slightly possible, however extremely unlikely, to have a mod that was enameled using this uranium yellow enamel, and this mod would certainly set off a geiger counter... lol

my ex-wife is a formally trained enamelist, and i used to work for a manufacturer of modern vitreous enamel powders. this uranium yellow enamel may as well be called 'unobtanium', and believe it or not, any remains of this unfired enamel powder, even though it hasn't been manufactured in 50+ years, is highly coveted by art and jewelry enamelers for its unparalleled yellow color which has been almost impossible to duplicate with contemporary vitreous enamel manufacturing processes.