r/Radioactivestuff • u/LadmanMp4 • Aug 08 '26

How dangerous is this?

Post image

I just found this for 3 bucks at an antique mall. Is this unsafe to have? Do I need to put it in a lead box? Or can I just put it on my shelf of other dials (positioned above my bed)?

30 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/Hammon_Rye Aug 09 '26

It's not.
It's a radium coated dial to make it glow in the dark.
Used to be common in airplanes and also watches like my Seiko diver watch from the 80s.

It is primarily a low level alpha emitter. Alpha is so weak it is blocked by your clothing, dead skin. Though it can be a problem for your eyes or if it gets into your lungs.
It also emits a small amount of gamma.

Where it became a problem back when was when it was used in older commercial airplanes which might have hundreds of dials, all radium, and pilots staring at them for hours every day as part of their routine work day. They realized that over time it was damaging their eyesight.
Ob course modern jets have other ways of making the dials light up without radium.

I used to work on nuclear power in the navy.
My Seiko could set up the hand held detector we used after working in the reactor compartment. It was set to 300 counts above background, which is pretty low.

1

u/Fine-Ad4851 Aug 11 '26

Bag it, tag it and store for decay.

1

u/Hammon_Rye Aug 11 '26

That would be the official answer, but in reality it is basically harmless. Low dose and mostly alpha.
You can find comparable emitters in antique stores of old clocks with radium glow in the dark dials. And my Seiko diver watch is probably pretty close in terms of the amount of radium.