The stuff has a half-life of only 138.376 days, so it loses its kick pretty quickly. That’s too bad, because it’s expensive. At least it only took 2 days to arrive, unlike the gasket I ordered back in May for the regulator on my ammonia tank :mad: . Oh well. I do like how most of the things I order for work only take a day or two to arrive.
Pesky Russians…
Better start making out your naughty/nice list…
Aaaaaand welcome to DHS’s watch list. 
Polonium samples are used for antistatic properties. I see them all the time in the draft chambers of balances (scales). They’re usually in brush form. They put the polonium in a little strip under a ‘protective grid’ made of flimsy foil. Safety first!
Yeah, that’s what we use them for. No brushes. They’re these little strips (really bad pic), with yes, a “protective grid” over them. Some of the idjits in my lab thought that the best way to de-static their glassware was to rub the strip as hard as possible on their glassware, thus bending the grid and scratching to foil underneath :eek: :smack: . I sent nasty emails. I’m surprised nobody has died yet from the various stunts people pull.
So…
We can just buy this stuff huh.
The mind boggles.
Say hi to the nice Secret Service people for me, won’t you?
*This is a Public Service Announcement, all russian dissenters are advised to stay way the heck away from Ruken.
Thank you.*
Awww, no, I like Russians. Well, actually, I don’t think I know any Russians, so I’m just assuming I’d like them. I knew a Ukrainian once who I didn’t like, but she wasn’t Russian; she just spoke Russian.
When the Litvinenko story first hit, I remember people making a big deal about the exotic poison. I was thinking, “shit, we’ve got this stuff all over the place! I don’t want to end up looking like that guy” :eek:
But the manufacturers of these antistatic devices make them as safe as they can. It’s not like there’s a strip of solid polonium under a wire cage. The polonium is dispersed in little ceramic microspheres that are embedded in an inert metal support–probably gold or something.
So “The Terrorists” aren’t going to be amassing polonium to cause us slow, painful death. I think. There’s enough in one of those strips to kill someone, but getting it out is, thankfully, difficult.
And as I mentioned, it’s half-life sucks.
I would be so dead if I worked in that lab.
Handle radioactive material that is safe so long as it isn’t inhaled or ingested. Wander off, chewing on nails, wondering what I’ll do for lunch . . .
