Richard,
Well why make smoke detectors that emit radioactivity then when safer
alternatives that work just as well exist? They used to make watch dials from
radium until they realized that people were recieving radiation from them that
was potentially dangerous. To this day fertilizer is made from uranium
tailings used to grow tobacco. Every time you smoke a pack of cigarettes you
get the equivalent amount of radiation of one chest x-ray. This is insane...
yet it is done on a massive scale. My point is this... radioactivity belongs
IN THE GROUND where it has it's natural uses. It does NOT belong above the
ground in anything... including nuclear reactors (remember Chernobyl?), DM
munitions (depleted uranium causing cancer and genetic defects in those
populations exposed such as found in Iraq). Where radiation is found naturally
above the ground it is ALWAYS considered dangerous.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Goodwin
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 7:05 AM
Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector
I thought I was being clearer than that. Not sure that radiation or anything
else has a "rightful" place where it "should" be, but the stuff in the ground
is certainly far from harmless -- how many people have died of cancer who lived
in houses full of radon all their short lives?
And yes, if you dig it up and concentrate it into something that is now
highly radioactive, and put it in your pocket, of course you will suffer
consequences. But why would you do that? Having dug it up and made it into
something dangerous, you ought to put it somewhere where you cannot be affected
by it, like in a reactor to produce electricity, behind shielding sufficient to
prevent any exposure at all. That way it is safer for you than when it was in
the ground.
Dick
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bob Banever <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Fri, April 23, 2010 9:46:37 AM
Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector
Richard,
You entire premise is flawed. Radioactivity is a natural byproduct
of decaying organic material and has it's rightful place in the ground. By
being there it is safely away from harming humans and other living things that
have no need for this type of radioactivity. By your premise digging it up,
concentrating it and putting in our personal environments is ok. Nothing could
be farthur from the truth. This type of energy is destructive to DNA... it
kills living things in such high concentrations. Why would you want to expose
yourself or your loved ones to ionizing radiation? It causes cancer, genetic
defects, and a host of other diseases in plants, animals, and man.
