Deadly Smoke Detector

[Ash]

I stopped by a friend's house the other day and we were sitting at the table in the basement when he handed me an old smoke detector.

Here's a pic:
(click on thumbnail to enlarge)


I looked at it for a second and then he said, "Turn it over".
At first I didn't see what he was talking about...and then I saw it.

Click on the thumbnail below to see the reverse side up close:



What the?!
What material could be in it?

[Poogie]

Yep......that seems about right...... 

[Andrew]

That is an ionization smoke detector, one of the more "sensitive" ones.  They have a small amount of radioactive material so that they can detect fires.  We have a Kidde photoelectric and ionization detector outside the bedrooms.  It has the same sort of warning on the back.  It also lists the material in it as Americium-241.  It appears that Americium-241 emits very little radioactivity and you are perfectly safe so long as you don't go breaking it apart to get at the little dot of material.

[Poogie]

Let me see.........we have TV's, Microwaves and now fire detectors in our homes with just a little radioactive material. What next?  It's starting to add up. 

[ulthar]

Let me see.........we have TV's, Microwaves and now fire detectors in our homes with just a little radioactive material. What next?  It's starting to add up. 

Actually, you might be surprised at the household items containing radioactive material.  We once held a geiger counter up to some china dinner plates and the thing went nuts.  Be careful what you look for, eh?

As for smoke detectors, a colleague of mine used to use one to calibrate his detection equipment.   

All that said, there's three types of "radiation:" alpha, beta and gamma.  The really bad one is gamma; alpha and beta radiation is not that bad, but is still called 'radiation.'  Even gamma radiation is a very broad term, as it refers to any "light" of higher frequency than x-rays.

[Andrew]

Let me see.........we have TV's, Microwaves and now fire detectors in our homes with just a little radioactive material. What next?  It's starting to add up. 

Well, nothing quite as bad as the following:

http://www.badmovies.org/multimedia/movies6/cabyss1.mpg

Come on, how many times do you get to hear someone say, "Damn it!  Who opened the radioactive container?"

[Ash]

Actually, you might be surprised at the household items containing radioactive material.  We once held a geiger counter up to some china dinner plates and the thing went nuts.  Be careful what you look for, eh?

Where'd you get a geiger counter?  How much does one cost?
Why would china dinner plates contain radioactive material?

Thanks for the radioactivity info.
I don't know much about it...maybe I'll have to study up on it.

And Andrew, I've seen that clip before...hilarious!