close up picture of Mk1 Speedometer required

[B. Harris]

Folks,

As with all watch faces, instuments and anything else that used Radium Paint...

The heads up to remember is....Just because the gauges dont glow anymore the danger still exists.

The radium actualy reacts with the paint and it causes the paint to glow. Now after so many years the paint starts to break down the glow stops BUT the activity still remains...unseen. This explains all the "dust" in the bottom of the gauges.

So if you must take apart those old instruments do it some where other than inside and wear PPE.

Glass is a great Beta blocker.However dont wear the old time radium watchs thru the airport radiation detectors or nuclear plant whole body monitors as they will set them off....(Been there done it)

Harris

[RichardT10829]

Yeah I sought advice from the pro's the reply was to avoid taking the covers off, but if the paint is undamaged you are less likely to absorb lethal amounts of radiation

[Lynn Eades]

Now that its night time over there... Do you glow in the dark?
Sorry... I just couldnt help my self.

It might be a good time to start a sticky thread with the info in it, as a warning to others who may yet be unaware?

[RichardT10829]

I would suggest that is a good idea for certain mind not all gauges from that period are radium luminised but it's better to be safe than dead....

[J Henry]

WOW, I didn't know that about those gauges and here the glass is broken on my MK-1 gauges and here I've been doing the touchy-feely thing!!

[RichardT10829]

Mk1 gauges so I am told are not radio active... still you need to be careful.... i have just been back down to the garage gloves mask etc and placed the dial back into its case and sealed it again.... it should be noted that there are breather holes all over the gauge bezzel so just because the glass is in situ, does not guarantee that the dust wont escape. luckily for me the face plate of the dial and needle are both in mint condition.

my findings so far on this subject for radium luminised gauges are that the radium brakes down over the years, if it is ingested / inhaled it enters the body, the body mistakes the matter as calcium and thus introduces it into the bone structure where it sits releasing alpha, beta, and gamma rays slowly through your body, it destroys the white blood cells, and its game over.... there is a large amount of information on the "Radium Girls" who used to paint dials and watch faces, they used to tip their brushes with their lips, paint their teeth, nails and lips (to suprise husbands and boyfriends) needless to say they all died young.

now to try and keep the hysteria down.... these girls were ingesting huge amounts over a long period of time.... i received an email from HPA i asked about the safety considerations

In 1942 these gauges may have been radium luminised but not all dials that self illuminate are coated with a radioactive material (chemical light reactions replaced this method of luminising dials and your dial may have already been restored or not been active in the first place). If the gauge still had its glass cover intact then there is no reason to suspect that you would receive any significant exposure. Even if the glass was cracked or removed, providing the paint on the dials was not damaged then again no significant contamination should arise

In future restoration projects, I would not attempt to dismantle a clock or dial assembly (ie remove the glass cover) and avoid those where the glass cover has been cracked or the dial has obviously been damaged.

[Doug Lavoie]

Richard,
Along the same lines are the WW11 marching compasses. They will most likely trip the gager as well. Rick De Bruyn did some checks on his, as well as mine. They were active as well.
Thought that this would expand on the gauge issue as well.
Doug