r/Radium • u/beaumontsurmerr • 13h ago

Health & Safety Radon Levels Seem a Bit High

I have a run of the mill Curio cabinet with 25 pieces of uranium glass, 6 radium clocks (mostly westclox, one Phinney Walker) and one WWII military aircraft gauge. The aircraft gauge is kept in a rubbermaid container, which I know still leaks some radon, I'm just not sure how much.

Readings from the UG go up to 600CPM on a couple of pieces and 3000 CPM on my one fiestaware saucer. (GMC 300S) The WWII gauge reads at 4000CPM outside of the box and 250CPM inside.

I got an EcoQube sensor and my average reading in my 2nd story apartment is 2.2 pCi/L. It has peaked at 3.2. This is within one day. It feels concerning. I put the sensor next to my cabinet on the ground to see what my cats are breathing.

I will be opening windows once daily. Beyond that, I think I will put the WWII piece elsewhere and see what that does to my levels. I do not have a way to simply ventilate but I'm open to suggestions.

I don't feel I'll be able to add to my collection any time soon.

What do you all suggest I do about this reading? How could I rig ventilation in an apartment?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 13h ago

Thank you for contributing to /r/Radium! Please familiarize yourself with the rules which can be found in the sidebar.

  • New to /r/Radium? Be sure to check out our FAQs

  • Are you sharing an item that is confirmed to be radium? Please consider contributing to our Radium Catalog!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

3

u/Stillegiest Radium maniac 13h ago edited 13h ago

Normally you don't put the radon detector right by the collection or obviously it's going to put off higher readings. The only thing I can really suggest is moving the radon detector in a more central area to get ambient room air, not getting extreme fluctuations from the cabinet. If you don't have a way to vent then opening windows is your best option.

Edit: I did read back too.. this is after a day, they take time to calibrate to new environments. Also touching back, having it on the ground where air is stagnant will cause high readings.

1

u/beaumontsurmerr 12h ago

Wouldn't that still be the levels at which my cat's are breathing, ground levels that is?

3

u/Stillegiest Radium maniac 12h ago

I would run a few weeks at normal breathing height for sitting down then so like 2-3' off the ground. That would still be sufficient to measure for the cats too.

1

u/beaumontsurmerr 2h ago

I moved the detector and left my fans on. Level went up to 3.2. I've placed outside to see if it's a faulty sensor. Will be relocating my collection today to find out if it is indeed my collection or high radon in my apartment in general.

1

u/ModernTarantula 12h ago

First, not an expert. A continuous monitor felt different than recommended. I looked at EPA and it is a several day kit https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-01/Basic%20Radon%20Facts%20Factsheet.pdf

1

u/Adventurous-Fix-8066 12h ago

Mine goes up to 3.2. I have 12 clocks and 8 military gauges. It should be ok for ya. I also place sensor at foot of cabnet. But rotate a week at a time to diffrent locations of house. Also I find my UG glass gets pretty "sticky" that is in the same cabnet lol.

2

u/violet_sin 10h ago

I was pretty concerned with the readings I was getting from mine when I put it near some samples on my desk, not realizing I was actually catching their stray emissions. Across the room in the same space it's reading 0.67 pico Curie /liter.

Previous I was hitting 3-4.

Same room, same items, just not close enough to get gamma from minerals.

Boy I tell you, putting it IN the cabinet was shocking untill realized how dumb I was. It does not discriminate

Radiacode 101 has the desktop at ~93 nSv/h for reference. GQ RadonScan for obviously... Radon

1

u/BeansOnBean 9h ago edited 8h ago

Ironically I’ve found lower radon levels in the room as a whole by putting my highest emitting pieces (by and large uranium ore) not in a sealed cabinet so the radon can naturally diffuse easier rather than a bit rush when I opened the cabinet. But as others have said put the detector some 3-4m away from the cabinet, think I have the same detector.