# What is the SD on this insane radioactive roommate story? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860 "2022-09-03T01:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860/1 "2022-09-03T01:48:05Z")
So I came across [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/x2l9ap/wyoming_roommate_exposed_us_to_toxic_radon_gas/) utterly bonkers story on Reddit (also discussed on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/notfolu/status/1565425784671592448?t=w1_CAL09muPNeUTqmS8VXQ&s=19)). If true, this guy’s roommate has been hoarding radioactive items (like glow in the dark clocks and other things) Resulting in radon levels in the apartment (according to the household radon detector, meant for detecting natural radon gas) of over 500 pCi/l. What’s the SD on this? IMHO as I imagine this will be more postulation than facts. Did this really happen? Are those levels really such a big deal? (given, as some people pointed out household radon detectors aren’t calibrated for those high levels). What would the health effects be if it is accurate. Is the roommate actually in criminal legal jeopardy? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860/2 "2022-09-03T02:24:28Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Is the roommate actually in criminal legal jeopardy? I think the whole story sounds bogus but so does the story of David Hahn, a teen who accumulated a fair bit of radioactive material from smoke detectors, clocks, glow in the dark rings and lantern mantles. He went on to increase the concentration. It wasn’t a reactor in the way that’s usually meant but still not what a kid in a shed should be goofing with. I saw this 24 minute story from 2003 about him a couple days ago: [https://old.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/comments/x26dob/the\_nuclear\_boy\_scout\_2003\_short\_documentary/](https://old.reddit.com/r/Documentaries/comments/x26dob/the_nuclear_boy_scout_2003_short_documentary/) His story does not have a happy ending but that’s not directly related to his radiation past. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860/3 "2022-09-03T14:11:04Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Is the roommate actually in criminal legal jeopardy? There are enough laws on the books, that if the government really wants to charge somebody with a crime, they can usually find a way. And in a situation like this, I think that the government would be highly motivated. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860/4 "2022-09-03T16:14:55Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > this guy’s roommate has been hoarding radioactive items (like glow in the dark clocks and other things) 1. Among “other things” was an actual vial of radium. I think your summary misses an important factor in this guy’s hoarding, he was not just hoarding glow in the dark clocks and similar, he was also hoarding scraps of the radioactive material. 2. The levels described are two orders of magnitude higher than the federal limit, but the federal limit is set with these two factors in mind: a) reducing lifetime radon exposure is believed to reduce lung cancer (the evidence is quite strong for this, but it’s difficult to estimate what effect dose has), and b) mitigation can be as easy as increasing ventilation in basement/ground floor rooms, possibly with a radon sensitive controller. 3. Like some of the redditors, I’d be more concerned with potentially having breathed in radium dust from the roommate’s improperly stored radioactive scraps than with the radon levels. 4. I’m definitely not a lawyer, but thought the roommate might have broken some laws about correct storage of radioactive materials I doubt the other guy has a case other than a civil lawsuit if he actually gets lung cancer. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-sd-on-this-insane-radioactive-roommate-story/970860/5 "2022-09-15T05:19:08Z")
One detail matches the story of David Hahn: the vial of radium paint, which Hahn obtained by chance. According to the Harper’s article (see the wiki footnotes), Hahn’s work became really dangerous only after he got it. > **[David Hahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn)** > > David Charles Hahn (October 30, 1976 – September 27, 2016), sometimes called the "Radioactive Boy Scout" or the "Nuclear Boy Scout", was an American nuclear radiation enthusiast who built a homemade neutron source at the age of seventeen. > A scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Hahn conducted his experiments in secret in a backyard shed at his mother's house in Commerce Township, Michigan. Hahn's goal was to build and demonstrate a homemade breeder reactor. While he never managed to build a reac... Seemingly this roommate based his work on Hahn’s.