Vintage radioactive wrist watches - Is Radium really nasty?

[Katie Wasserman]

(01-21-2015 09:02 PM)jebem Wrote:  I will have to repeat the readings once I put my Radium source away from my apartment and see if I get a lower count.

You might find other low-level sources of radiation around your home too. I found that some of the Nixie tube calculators I have have small amount of radioactive gas (krypton 85?) to help get the ionization started. Some ceramic glazes have uranium in them. I have an old Elgin alarm clock/radio with radium painted hands. Ionization-type smoke alarms have a strong , but tiny, alpha source in them. Old color TV tubes emitted radiation until they put lead in the glass, but even then you can still detect a slight increase in the background count at the edge of tube.