Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a pretty small amount of radioactive material, about 1 μCi (roughly equal to 2000 bananas). And in normal usage, you probably shouldn't be removing the insides of the smoke detector and eating it or anything, unlike the tasty bananas. Nonetheless, they're being phased out in a lot of places, mostly due to disposal worries. While one smoke detector is fairly harmless, tens of thousands being dumped in landfills i…
And the alpha radiation emitted is barely able to penetrate a sheet of paper, let alone the detector housing and ten feet of air to your body.
Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
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Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#32Export restrictions have been in place for a very long time. Another relatively well-known distributor that got bitten is McMaster-Carr, a mechanical parts supplier (with a very nice web design - http://mcmaster.com/ ). After shipping something to a location they shouldn't have, they were penalized in 2003 and they no longer ship outside the US. Which is a damn shame, because they have a great catalogue of stuff that…
Maybe their policies have changed since 2003, because do they claim to ship outside the US.
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of smoke detectors use the radioactive isotope americium-241 in an ionization process to detect smoke. Get enough smoke detectors, and you can have a good amount of radioactive material. Read up on David Hahn, who hit the news in '94 for trying to build a breeder reactor in his back yard using sources scavenged from among other things, smoke detectors.
Thank you. It's depressing how quick people can be to dismiss something as stupid without considering how those rules came about in the first place.
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#34Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#35Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Radioactive smoke detectors mandatory in houses. Hmm, what's wrong with this picture?
The irrational fear that's thrown around whenever the word 'radiation' is used?
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#37The “fix” is to move your name to the 2nd line so it doesn’t get flagged
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#38This is actually great news. It has been impossible to find out whether you are on the US watch list. Now you have to do is get an Australian with your name to order something from Element 14 and now you know.
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#39This is actually great news. It has been impossible to find out whether you are on the US watch list. Now you have to do is get an Australian with your name to order something from Element 14 and now you know.
You can even register for email updates.
Re: Element 14 Holding Orders Based On US Government Watch List
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thank you. It's depressing how quick people can be to dismiss something as stupid without considering how those rules came about in the first place.
one guy, one time, managed to get his hands on enough smoke detectors to make himself glow in the dark.. yes, seems perfectly reasonable to freak out about.