# Radioactive gold -- unlikely but possible.



## Stevious (Dec 3, 2010)

It may seem far-fetched that you might come across radioactive gold, yet the following from library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/issues/1981_03_31.pdf shows that not only is it possible, but in fact it has happened. I believe that the following understates the dangers and the outcome, and further believe that the facts are a bit mixed up.

While it is true that in the 30’s and 40’s radon filled gold capsules were implanted into male prostates to treat cancer I cannot imagine how radon, which is a gas, could contaminate a gold melt as it would simply escape. I suspect that the real culprit is Gold isotope 198. There are many radioactive gold isotopes and many have a half-life of a few days. But gold 198 has a very long half-life.

I believe that the actual untold story here is that someone obtained gold 198 implantation rods, which would be implanted into male prostate cancer, were obtained, either by theft, or by ignorance. Hoover & Strong, then in Buffalo, NY included some of this radioactive gold into melts, after refining. Keep in mind that gold 198, acts, looks and would refine exactly as gold 197, the stable, non-radioactive gold that we like. Gold 198 has a half-life of about ½ year, meaning that it can still be radioactive for decades.

The article points to amputated fingers, but I have read that deaths occurred also.

_ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Slate Heallh Department officials
are searching for 1930's and I940's graduates of
seven Buffalo, N.Y., area high schools, who may be
wearing radioactive class rings or pins. Department
spokeswoman Barbara Thomas-Noble said lhal a
statewide screening led to Ihc discovery of about 100
pieces of radioactive gold jewelry. She said 50 of Ihc
rings and pins have been traced to Buffalo high schools,
with 38 believed lo be from East High School in Buffalo,
which is now closed. 1 nvcsligalors arc Irying lo contact
all graduates of Ihc schools by using gradual ion
programs, yearbooks and microfilm records, Health
Commissioner Dr. David Axclfod said lasl week. The
graduates arc being asked lo contact llieir local health
departments for testing immediately.The radioactivity
can cause rashes and blisters, and several people have
had fingers amputated because of skin cancer from
radioactive rings. Health Department officials say Ihc
gold apparently found its way into Ihe commercial
market between the early 1930's and I940's aflcr being
used in gold "seeds" thai contained radioactive
radon gas for cancer Iherapy.Deparlmcnl officials have
said they have been aware of Ihe problem since Ihc
1960s, bul they did not alert the public until alter a
January rcporl by a Buffalo television station called Ihe
attention lo the danger.
_
Today there is a renewed interest in radioactive gold nanoparticles for implantation into prostate cancer.

I guess the bottom line is to be aware of anything truly unusual.

When metals prices increase strange sources appear. Once when purchasing metals during 1979 I became thrilled with about 40 ounces of sterling that a customer brought in. They were tiny intricate piercings. (A piercing is a piece of metal cut from another larger piece with a tiny jewelers blade.) I, having been a goldsmith was amazed at the quantity and quality of these hand-cut tiny pieces and verbalized it, curious as to what kind of jewelry this person made.
The woman, hemmed and hawed and then finally blurted out: “stop it—you know I stole these.” Well, no, I did not, but she told me the story anyway. She worked at a silver flatware manufacturing company in Newburyport, MA (possibly Gorham) and her job was to “pierce cut” the details on flatware. Apparently she left with half a teaspoon in her shoes every day. No, I told her, I was not interested in buying stolen goods, but since many years had passed and so had (probably) the limitation of actions, I did not feel a need to “report her” either, so she sold the metal to a competitor. Oh well. I had no interest in stolen goods.

The moral of the story, is “be careful,” and cautious. You never know what you'll come across.


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## Irons (Dec 4, 2010)

Gold from Nuclear Weapons:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001517.html


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## Palladium (Dec 4, 2010)

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=4095


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## DarkspARCS (Jan 1, 2011)

Palladium said:


> http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=4095



:shock: Do I even DARE read this? :twisted: lol... maybe I can reverse engineer the processes they reveal in that book, and RULE THE WORLD!

MUHUHUHUHUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!! :mrgreen:


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## goldsilverpro (Jan 1, 2011)

One time, when in the AF, I was privileged to tour the nuclear weapons museum at Sandia Base (or somewhere near there) in NM. There were 100s of weapons. Some were full size mockups that were cut away so you could see how they were made. Most were the real McCoy (without the nuclear material or high explosive, of course). Some of the new ones were covered with tarps so you couldn't see them (unless your clearance was higher than ours). Long Tom (shotgun type) and Fat Boy (implosion type) were there (Nagasaki and Hiroshima, or visa versa).

I once owned "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons", which was, at that time, the main military textbook on the subject. Included with the book was a circular slide rule with many different scales on it. One of the scales was called Man Velocity (I think). If you knew the weapon size, the distance from ground zero, and whether it was an airburst or a groundburst, you could calculate how fast a man would be traveling through the air. A little military humor, I guess.

I also got to tour the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado, where they made chemical weapons. Didn't care much for that. They had birds, which were very sensitive to the chemicals, in many cages, to check the plant for leaks. If you saw a dead bird, you set an alarm, and everyone immediately donned their mask and got the hell out of there..


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## texan (Jan 16, 2011)

I suppose that radioactive elements could find their way into gold in the natural enviornment. We have a site in Texas (Badu Hill Pegmatite NW of Austin) where gold is located along with radioactive zircon and other radioactives and REEs. I guess I will have to check all my gold with my PRI 111b scintilator and see of I get any hits starting with my wedding ring.

Texan


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## oldgeek (Jan 16, 2011)

I am sure someone on this forum can answer this question. Could an item such as this be contaminated with radioactivity? I feel the potential is there, since from what i can tell, these are used to test for radioactive contamination.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TENNELEC-ALPHA-..._Security_Fire_Protection&hash=item19c20d5c1b


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## g_axelsson (Jan 20, 2011)

Alpha, beta or gamma radiation doesn't leave any trace of radioactivity in material it irradiates. The only thing that can make materials radioactive by itself is neutron radiation. But there is always the risk that there are something left of the radioactive material that emitted the radiation in the first place. Then it isn't the gold itself that is radioactive, it's the dirt on top of it.

So the answer is yes, it could be contaminated but I would guess it's not. If you are worried you can buy a geiger detector and check for yourself. My detector cost me $90 almost ten years ago and I use it for testing radioactive minerals.

/Göran


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## oldgeek (Jan 20, 2011)

> Alpha, beta or gamma radiation doesn't leave any trace of radioactivity in material it irradiates. The only thing that can make materials radioactive by itself is neutron radiation. But there is always the risk that there are something left of the radioactive material that emitted the radiation in the first place. Then it isn't the gold itself that is radioactive, it's the dirt on top of it.
> 
> So the answer is yes, it could be contaminated but I would guess it's not. If you are worried you can buy a geiger detector and check for yourself. My detector cost me $90 almost ten years ago and I use it for testing radioactive minerals.
> 
> /Göran



Great information!

Thanks,
Scotty


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## grayswaindir47 (Mar 6, 2012)

Stevious said:


> I suspect that the real culprit is Gold isotope 198. There are many radioactive gold isotopes and many have a half-life of a few days. But gold 198 has a very long half-life.


 Did you mean gold 195? According to *Wolfram Alpha* the half life of Gold 198 is 64.68 hours decaying into mercury 198 which is stable. I doubt it would last long enough to be formed into a class ring. Gold 195 on the other hand has a half life of 186 days and decays into Platinium 195 which is stable.


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## publius (Mar 6, 2012)

then you have to look out for Ir 192 with a half life of 75 days. The real issue is the Currie count. Is the strength if the gamma great like Co60 or weak like radon?


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## Stowmaster (Dec 19, 2012)

There are rumors that some of the gold contacts of the Soviet relay in gold added low-level radioactive material. This was done for protection against theft. Products from this gold is a darker shade and have radiation background so could be easily detected.

Rhodium also has high radioactivity. It is extracted from the fission of nuclear fuel. Set for rhodium enhanced rate of radioactivity: 0.43 microsieverts per hour (natural background 0.1 microsieverts per hour).


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## solar_plasma (Apr 5, 2013)

Be sure your detection system is able to do, what you want it to do. Au198 makes beta-radiation, which will not be detected by all instruments. Also if your instrument detects beta, it will only do it in a defined range of radiation energy (eV). 

Step1: Typically you want to detect *any *radiation (e.g. impulses/min) that exceeds triple null-rate, then you will use a *contamination detector like contamat or como170.* Know your instrument! Move it slowly since it is somewhat slow to detect. Dont touch the tested material with the membrane, but remember alpha reaches only cm, beta metres. 1cm distance willbe perfect. 5cm will work, 10 cm would be foolish.

It will warn you, *if *there is anything bad. It will not be able to tell you *how *bad. Step2: If it is only gamma-radiation or if you are protected against alpa and beta, then you can use another instrument to measure the dosis effect (e.g. microS/h), - *if *the radiation has enough radiation energy (eV). Then you can calculate, how long you can expose yourself to the radiation source without suffering bigger damage. Step3: After youknow, you have a really bad day, you can use an instrument to measure your obtained dosis (e.g. mS), which will warn you, when you have reached a defined level of dosis.

As you can see, step 2 and 3 are useless for the recycler. After step 1 you will follow the 4 rules of radiation protection:
*
shielding (lay a steel pot over it)
distance (never touch/in 3m distance you have only 1/9 of radiation)
limit restriction of stay (dont look stupid and wonder, but leave the place!)
prevent ANY incorporation* (use your gas mask, take off all contaminated clothes (now, you own a contamat or como) going against the wind, evt. wash your hands and hairs, your mask is the last thing you take off!)

...and call your local firebrigade :lol:


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