Old Radium Aircraft Instruments

[GAHorn]

Over the years I've accumulated some older aircraft instruments I found entertaining. Severl of them have evidence they were once "glow in the dark." The way I understand it is that those old wristwatches and things that we recall as kids were not usually dangerous. That's because they were not "radium"...but were merely luminescent, meaning that if they were exposed to light they would emit light for a short time afterwards... as opposed to radium-painted dials which emit alpha particles continuously.
Many old WW-2 instruments were thus painted. I believe the paint was composed of radium and zinc sulfide which reacted with the radium to flouresce. Even tho' old units may no longer "glow"...(due to the slow deterioration of the zinc sulfide)....the radium is still "hot" for thousands of years.

I don't know of any instrument shops which will accept them for repair or overhaul or disposal. Landfills are a NO-NO.

What got me thinking about this was something I read online recently regarding old aircraft instruments and compasses:
"The cardinals (... markings on the compasses were made of a radioactive compound (radium and zinc sulfide) which is still very "hot" although the paint is no longer visible in the dark. In 50 cm (1 1/2 ft) distance, the gamma radiation measured is 0.35 µSv/h (microsieverts/hour). The natural background radiation is about 0.10 µSv/h. The threshold for dangerous radiation is 0.30."

I plan to find an approved disposal method and wondered if anyone had info on how/where to get rid of them.
I'm pretty certain they are illegal to ship via common methods, yet lots of these things have been sold thru online auction sites for years.

Anyone?

[mike roe]

George
Contact Keystone Instruments. They have certs for working on those type instruments. They can answer all questions regarding shipping etc. Might even purchase them.
Mike

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Makes me think of a backhoe and a deep hole in the middle of nowhere that no one would ever find.

A few years ago one of our alphabet agencies came to Lockhaven and Keystone Instruments and condemned the building they'd been working in for nearly their entire lives. No ill effects reported that I ever heard of. Still sits there boarded up cause they haven't figured out what to do with it. Shortly after boarding it up another agency came to the field and sprayed hundreds of gallons of some kind of growth killer all around those security fences another agency thinks we need. Pretty soon we'll find out the boarded up building with the radium dust is much safer than the rest of the airport now surrounded by a ring of fence with no vegetation growing and unknown chemicals in the ground.

And as far as I know Keystone will not touch the instruments unless they are clean. They've told me lots of instruments people think are hot are actually not. I believe they know of a certified shop that will clean the instruments. They indicated your better off no one knows about such instruments though and thats what makes me have the thought from my first paragraph.

[T. C. Downey]

For those who cross the international boundaries you will be checked for radium, if you have these instruments installed, expect delays and maybe confiscation of the aircraft.

TSA stuff

[blueldr]

I've been flying for something more than almost seventy years and no one has ever checked on or asked about radium dialed instruments at any border crossing.

[GAHorn]

I hear ya, Bruce, but I'm coming to the conclusion we've been too cavalier about these things too long. (I've lost 4 friends this last year due to pancreatic cancer and no one knows why...but it's gotta be more than coincidence and our environment.)

I recall a flight I made a couple years back and picked up pax and fuel at Lancaster, PA not far from you. My crewmember made the mistake of refilling the FBO coffee-pot with local tap-water to brew a new pot of coffee, and the FBO owner took that urn and deliberately broke it and threw it into the trash because it had been filled with water from the local well.
(Why it couldn't simply be washed out and reused is beyond me, but he was a businessman who didn't like to waste resources and yet trashed an otherwise perfectly good glass urn, so it must have been a serious local matter. He explained that a former paint shop had disposed of paint stripper onto the ground years ago and that only bottled water could be used for consumption. Made an impression on me.)

Keeping others ignorant of these matters for personal gain/savings only contributes to the hazards, and seems pretty reckless to me. I could get pretty angry about someone risking MY well-being to save THEM a few dollars.

An article I read recently about a former WW-2 military base in England got my attention. An older, disused building was brought back into use for office space and the workers began to suffer skin burns for unexplained reasons. Turned out that some of the bldg materials/desks had been exposed to old instrument overhaul procedures. Testing revealed radium imbedded in the wood, the walls, and the surrounding soil.

Someone, for profit, had kept that matter secret at the risk of hazarding the health of others. "They indicated your better off no one knows about such instruments..." reminded me of it.

[mike roe]

I was under the understanding Keystone was one of the few shops to work on the older instruments. I have sent some of mine back to them and no problem. I might be mistaken. Call and talk to Pam or Ken to know for sure.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Mike, I've talked to Ken and make a point to visit personally each year at the annual Sentimental Journey fly-in. I've missed my annual visit the last two years so things might have changed for the better. But while we where standing there (eating Ken's hot dogs) with their boarded up building that has been in the family their entire lives, in the background, they do not want to see any hot instruments.

They will assist you by trying to identify if the unit is hot, as I said, Ken said lots of units people think are hot are not, and I remember he had a name of a company that would clean and certify the unit, but they wouldn't do it. Once "clean" they will refurb and restore the gauge. Again this info is two years old from Ken himself. Hopefully they are now certified to "clean" and then refurb the unit themselves. These folks, Ken and Pam and all working there are really nice folks. (Nice enough to feed visitors free hot dogs and soda at the fly-in anyway )

Bottom line, refurbing old gauges is their forte. No matter their in-house capability, they would be excellent folks to make contact with to get the straight pop what to do with these gauges.

[bagarre]

They even had a six o'clock adjustment altimeter on the shelf when I needed one two years ago and turned around my ASI in a week for me.
A friend of mine had a needle fall off one of his gauges in his Cub once at their fly in and they fixed it on the spot so he could fly home.
Great people and I won't send my gauges anywhere else....but none of mine glow in the dark.

[mike roe]

I just talked to Keystone. They will work on them if they have to BUT it is expensive. Removal and disposal of the paint is the biggie. As far as shipping if it gets by the PO that is the first test. They must scan all packages. If you dispose of them they must be encased in a fabricated lead sheet box with all seams joined using hydrogen/oxygen torch with filler rod from the same sheet. Buried to a depth of 28 to 34 1/2 inches. The site shall have a permanent marker at ground level stating- DO NOT DIG-RADIO ACTIVE MATERIAL DISPOSED OF IAW DOT 4489 PARAGRAPH C
(Just kidding about the last part.)
Mike Roe

[mike roe]

George
Another option is if you know someone flying private or driving to Oshkosh, have them take them to the fly market. Put a low price on them for beer money.

[GAHorn]

I want to dispose of them properly, not just dump them on someone else who might not bother. Thanks.

I have discovered a few guiding pieces of info:

Unfortunately, (before 1940) the hazards of being in proximity to radium weren’t understood, and while it proved a boon for night bombing and the war effort, its use has been largely abandoned for decades. However, this abandonment has not eliminated the plethora of radium-laced instruments existing in the field, both in flying condition and as paperweights on the desks of countless pilots and ex-crewmembers.

While the phosphor has long since lost its glow, the radium is still decaying. With a half-life (the amount of time it takes an atom to decay to half its value) of 1,599 years, the radium will continue to provide a low dose of radiation exposure to anyone in proximity to one of these legacy devices.


1. Any old, unmarked, paint cans in or around instrument shops are suspect, especially if produced or suspected of being older than year 1980.
2. Any military surplus instruments, clocks, or gauges dating prior to 1960 are likely suspect whether or not they "glow".
3. If you find unmarked suspect containers, rather than opening them, contact a contract radiation protection technician to survey the containers.

How to determine if your item is radioactive:\

If you are unable to locate such a technician, try this simple test: Purchase a roll of 12-exposure, 400-speed film for each suspect can, then tape a roll to each can. Label each roll and each can so they can be tracked. Separate any cans in this test from other suspect cans by 10 feet, as distance is an effective shield. Leave the roll of film in place for at least a week, then get the film developed. If the film comes back anything but black (gamma rays will cause white speckles or will bleach the film white in cases where a significant radiation source is present), you have found a problem.If such material is found, it needs to be isolated from all personnel immediately, roped off and labeled as “Radioactive Material." You likely will need to promptly report the problem to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

4. Radium degrades to Radon gas. Do not open instruments. Keep them sealed. (Radon is a known as a highly dangerous lung cancer hazard.)

The NRC wants to ensure radium-226 instruments are not allowed into general waste streams or are walked away from. This regulation requires the product be disposed of at a licensed radioactive waste facility. Several years ago, a cobalt-filled radiation therapy machine was improperly abandoned in a garbage dump and resulted in the deaths of dozens of (persons) who had (unkowningly) broke the machine open and (played with) the glowing metal.

The NRC wants to ensure radium-226 instruments are not allowed into general waste streams. This regulation (Energy Policy Act of 2005, Part 30 requires the product be disposed of at a licensed radioactive waste facility.
Most instrument shops with inventories of less than 100 such items may receive them without special licensing.

[mike roe]

I have read the same story of the children in the dump, but what I read, it wasn't in the USA. Good luck with you mission. I am lucky to not have any of those instruments.

[T. C. Downey]

I've been flying for something more than almost seventy years and no one has ever checked on or asked about radium dialed instruments at any border crossing.

Thank God we haven't had TSA for 70 years.

[GAHorn]

To put this to rest... a local instrument shop has agreed to take them and process them. Easier than I thought.