Uranium Glass Marbles?

laserwanabe said:

I would love to get a couple of these marbles but after reading briefly, now I'm iffy about them.

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Hello All,

There's nothing to be scared of here. The alpha particles emitted by the uranium oxide are for the most part reabsorbed by the glass. The few that escape are absorbed by pretty much any matter they contact. (A piece of typing paper will block alpha particles. The reason they are considered 'mostly-harmless' is that when they hit skin, they are absorbed immediately by the epidermis which is already-dead tissue. The alpha particles simply don't make it to living cells. Get it? )

So short answer- they aren't dangerous. You get more radiation flying. (And it's more dangerous beta particles...)
Long Answer- If you're paranoid, don't tape them to your testicles or swallow them... (the marbles of course )

cheers,
kernelpanic

p.s. I do find it a little amusing that a bunch of people who play with hi-powered lasers for fun (many without goggles) are worried about vaseline glass...  ;D

kernelpanic said:

[
p.s. I do find it a little amusing that a bunch of people who play with hi-powered lasers for fun (many without goggles) are worried about vaseline glass...  ;D

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EZAKTLEE!!!!!

There are WAY more dangerous things in our lives than these marbles.

I think I'll keep one between my cheek and gum to stimulate saliva production.  

Peace,
dave

FrancoRob said:

Uh, I spent some time to put down my last answer (I don't know how, but my first simple question has produced a sort of "avalanche" effect ) and I'm not a radiation expert for sure....

Switch:
I have to correct my Reply#43: 0.01 mR/hr are equivalent to 0.0001 mSv/hr, and it is a low value.....

DH:
a practical verification is for sure the simplest way to cut-off any doubt. If MarioMaster will get a sufficiently sensitive geiger counter, I think he will be able to perform the test  while I'm not sure to be able to for a loss of time, as  at the end of the second next week I'll leave Italy (where I live) to go to spend Christmas time with my daughter, in California. . I'm not sure that the post will be fast enough to bring me your package in right time.

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It takes a couple of weeks for my USPS first-class parcels to make it to Italy, a couple of days either way, really depends on your customs. But California is only a couple states away, I could send it to you there maybe. Do you have access to a meter?

I have never heard of any concerns from anyone over "Vaseline Glass" before, but it sounds interesting to get them tested anyway.

Kernelpanic and Daguin:
I regret that all this big cloud of dust has been generated by my simple question of Reply 39, then I made a big conversion mistake in Reply 43, I'm sorry, it's my fault.
BTW I think it could be nice to have the marble glass checked with a geiger counter, just for curiosity, not for a particular worry.

DH:
I'll PM you.

The Uranium Marbles I sell in my Store are Guaranteed to contain 3% Uranium.
I have tried to get a reading with my EBAY Geiger counter, but I was unable to,
Probably due to the condition of the unit "not my best purchase".

I have compared the EBAY Vaseline Marbles with the ones I am offering and there is a visual difference with and without UV light. Probably why the EBAY ones are so cheap and why they don't list the % of Uranium in their specs.

My stock of Uranium Marbles have these specs:
5/8 Uranium Marbles 600CPM
1" Uranium Marbles 800 CPM

kernelpanic, is correct on his statement that these are HARMLESS.

LaserSurplusParts:

Thank you for the info, so now we know that they irradiation should go between 0.006 and 0.008 mSv/h.

LaserSurplusParts said:

The Uranium Marbles I sell in my Store are Guaranteed to contain 3% Uranium.
I have tried to get a reading with my EBAY Geiger counter, but I was unable to,
Probably due to the condition of the unit "not my best purchase".

I have compared the EBAY Vaseline Marbles with the ones I am offering and there is a visual difference with and without UV light. Probably why the EBAY ones are so cheap and why they don't list the % of Uranium in their specs.

My stock of Uranium Marbles have these specs:
5/8 Uranium Marbles 600CPM
1" Uranium Marbles 800 CPM

kernelpanic, is correct on his statement that these are HARMLESS.

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I've purchased a few of your 5/8" marbles and they really GLOW bright when hit with 405nm..
Quite an eerie green glow.... ;D

Jerry

kernelpanic said:

Long Answer- If you're paranoid, don't tape them to your testicles or swallow them... (the marbles of course )

cheers,
kernelpanic

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Yeah.... wouldn't want to swallow those testicles..... ROFL.... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D.... ROFL

Give a look at this article, just found....

http://www.beadcats.com/radhaz.htm

The below is a quotation from:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/radioprotection/publication/doc/139_en.pdf.

1.4.9 [highlight]Glassware, tableware, jewellery and ceramic tiles incorporating
uranium[/highlight]
There is some potential for external exposure from glassware incorporating
uranium, arising from the beta and gamma radiation emitted by the uranium
decay products. There is minimal potential for internal exposure as the uranium
is incorporated into the glass. Uranium compounds may also be added to the
glaze used on the surface of tiles, to produce a variety of colours.  As with
glassware, there is some potential for external exposure. There is also a
possibility of internal exposure due to uranium slowly leaching from the glaze. An
assessment of doses to users carried out in the Netherlands
concluded that[highlight] the annual effective doses would be <1µSv[/highlight]

Peace,
dave

anyone want to sell me a couple of these from a bulk buy?

Just one more ref. to some readings relevant to necklaces (for the complete article see: http://1st-glass.1st-things.com/vaselineglass.html )

This shows that I was right when I replied to Wicked1 about the cumulative effect of several sources.

General statistics must be taken as they are, no more, no less: if one man eats ten apples and other three men eat one apple each, the statistic says 3.25 apples each man...

Thanks to LaserSurplusParts now we know what should be the irradiation of the 5/8 and 1" glass marbles: they are within 6 and 8 µSv/h.
Is this low? For sure, it is! As for all things, it's a problem of quantity and time.

The necklaces of the article goes between 18 and 68 µSv/h. May that be harmful? Considered alone, not, but if you have done several flights, or you have some radon in your house (who make checks about it?)....

I will for sure check the glass marbles that I've just purchased from DH, only to see if there are differences with the LaserSurplusParts glass marbles...

But thanks to the patience and the comments of all members that have participated to this topic, I'm glad I have received some data which in a certain manner may answer to my first question ;D

Anyone ever used a Glow-in-the-dark CONDOM!

I don't think there was much Radiation involved, but one did risk 3rd degree burns standing at a lamp charging it up before use....

Or where you supposed to charge it up BEFORE putting it on?

LaserSurplusParts said:

Anyone ever used a Glow-in-the-dark CONDOM!

I don't think there was much Radiation involved, but one did risk 3rd degree burns standing at a lamp charging it up before use....

Or where you supposed to charge it up BEFORE putting it on?

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No.  That's what the laser is for  [smiley=evil.gif]

Peace,
dave

Just bought mine

laserwanabe said:

anyone want to sell me a couple of these from a bulk buy?  

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How does $0.25 a piece plus $3 S&H (PayPal, ConUS) sound? My current set isn't cracked, but I should be getting in a cracked set this week.