Old gauge disposal

[Perry Kitson]

How do we dispose of the old gauges that come out of our vehicles. Is radiation a problem?

[rob love]

There was a couple of workers from the Cdn Nuclear safety commission that attended a local gun show a number of years back in Wpg. They were travelling across the country spreading the word that they would accept old radioactive materials like compasses etc when the time came to dispose of them.

I doubt there is any radium on the commercial gauges in the earlier cmps, but it is possible on the round gauges. I know the carrier speedometer gauge came up radioactive.

There is something called the Historic Artefact Recovery Program. While that link is dead on my computer, here is the main page:
https://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/reso...-radium.cfm#D1

Radium luminous devices may also be accepted for disposal through the Government of Canada at no cost through the Historic Artefact Recovery Program (PDF, 285 KB) (HARP), operated by CNL. HARP provides technical advice, assistance, identification and management of radioactive artefacts, including radium luminous devices, found on public and private properties across Canada.

[Perry Kitson]

Rob,

That program is still running. An email to CNSC has things sorted. The program runs out of Port Hope, Ontario. Address is nationalprograms@cnl.ca.
Thanks for the tip.

Perry

[Harry Moon]

an old video of mine but obviously related to this.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2a0NgXIqF4E

[Bruce MacMillan]

one other source of radiation is WW2 era radio meters and dial markings. The phosphorus usually has been burnt off leaving brown looking markings but the radium is still hot.

[Lang]

I don't think we should be getting excited about our instruments.

A CPM reading of at least 100 is considered a warning level by the Radiation Network, although the length of time you’re exposed to the radiation is an important factor. If you’re concerned about staying within safe radiation levels, Ken Jorgustin explains on the Modern Survival Blog that it would take 432 days at a CPM of 100 to up your chance of getting cancer to odds of 1 in 1,000.


In other words you would have to have an instrument strapped to your chest 24 hours a day for months or years just to increase your cancer risk by a tiny fraction above the general community every day radiation exposure. Nearly all foods and certainly water have measurable radiation as do most other things we come in daily contact. All these are mainly natural and very tiny readings but time being a huge factor shows the human body can exist nicely at constant low radiation levels.

Lang