I inherited my grandfather’s WWII compass, and had it sitting around for a long time on a shelf. I recently got a Geiger counter, and find that it’s radioactive. Around 10 microsieverts/hr. Apparently they used radium paint to make them glow in the dark. I can’t just throw it away, but I don’t want it potentially causing a danger to others in the room. Is there some sort of lead lined box I can put it in, or some kind of prevention I can do? Is there anyone experienced with this sort of thing that can offer some advice?
I wouldn’t worry about it - you are largely only going to harmed if you ingest any flakes of radium paint. If the compass is sealed and you use gloves when handling it you should be fine. If you wanted an extra level of security you could buy a perspex display box to put it in so, even if it wasn’t sealed and paint was flaking off it, no-one close to it would come in contact with it.
Have a read of this for more information.
I spent years working with radioactive materials in a lab and, as long as you aren’t careless it’s not a worry - there were much more dangerous things in there that genuinely scared me (like hydrofluoric acid).
It’s in really good condition, and checking the shelf where it’s been sitting for a decade, there no residual radiation. So I have to assume it won’t flake off easily.
A perspex box might be a good idea, but for now it’s sitting on a far away garage shelf with a label. I’d prefer to keep it even if it’s an outdated method compared to my phone, as it was a gift from my grandfather as he had it from his deployment in WWII in the 45th infantry. But now we’re all aware of what it might do, so we’ll definitely limit exposure time if we do show it off. It’s good to know that it’s still a fairly small amount of danger, comparatively.
Thank you!
Sounds like you should be fine. Most radioactive particles don’t travel far or penetrate very far (why the main danger is from ingestion) so if you aren’t carrying it around and it’s not in a high traffic area of the house then you should be fine. If you want to be sure, you can pop it into ziplock bag.