Radioactive Gas Mantle

It's a radioactive gas mantle (Welsbach mantle) for camping lanterns, containing thorium.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Radioactive
• Gas
• Mantle
• Radiation
• Geiger
• thorium
• uranium

[brickandfanal]

Thorium dangerous?

I'm quite amazed by the radioactive hazard of thorium. Total quantity of Thorium in a mantle is minuscule. More important, the half life of thorium is +14 billion years. This is not what I would call a very "hot" material, not warm, not even mild. Perhaps just a notch over "death cold"

That must be a very old mantle because thorium oxide is obsolete for gas mantle application.

[memeome]

@brickandfanal

So glad you comment this. They still sell thorim mantles, guess where? in Japan. Please watch this video:

/watch?v=VhE8-5g39SQ (youtube video: "Radioactive product found in Japanese store")

[lamplighter112]

The only danger with a thorium mantle comes when you burn it for the first time. Ingesting or inhaling the smoke can be toxic. Once burned they are bright and safe,,,,unlike the creator of the video.

[memeome]

I would say that ionizing radiation is more than toxic, maybe genotoxic.

I strongly recomend all the videos from bionerd32 (she literally takes a picture of radiation with polaroid film). I was able to mesure radioactivity in the remaining dust of a used one.

[memeome]

Don't worry, I know how to handle this. And, as you see, it doesn't radiate too far, so it can be well stored in a normal lead tube.

[memeome]

The main problem with radioactive mantles are the microparticles that you can inhale or ingest. And the worse are the used ones, because a burnt mantle turns literally to dust if you touch it.

[vmelkon]

I would like to buy one of these radioactive mantles. Which brand and from where did you get it?

[ChorltonBrook]

One of my friends died of multiple cancers last year. He was 38. He'd lived in his caravan with one of these as his only source of night time light continually for 2 years. They become brittle and he broke one inside, it turned to dust. I suspect he ingested some.

[bigwoolleypenguin]

Only old mantles are radioactive like this . If you are worried about this , when you buy mantles check they are non-radioactive type ( it will say they are non-radioactive on them / on the packet ) . Also I believe I am correct in saying that all mantles sold now ( and that have been sold for some time ) are not radioactive .

[potheadpenguin]

You probably get more radiation from the sun in day than being around one of those when it's in a lantern. Even if you ate it, it would still probably be no worse than a full body X-ray.

[vitorix24]

where you get your Radiaction detector? :D