Key Facts about: Radioactivity
Artificial sources: consumer products
United Kingdom
Some manufactured products contain radioactive materials. These include:
- smoke detectors, which use the radioactive properties to function
- gas mantles used to use the incandescent properties of the material, in this case thorium, which is naturally radioactive
- many watches and clocks use radioluminescence, usually promethium-147 or tritium (³H); individual doses are usually near zero, but a recent study has found that the leakage of tritium from some modern plastic watches could give an annual dose to the wearer of up to 0.02 millisieverts (mSv)
Doses from products could be up to 0.1 mSv for a few individuals but the average annual individual dose is estimated as 0.0001 mSv.
In Detail:
Artificial sources of radiation: Products
Further Information:
- Key Facts:
- Sources,
- Artificial sources:
- Medical,
- Fallout,
- Occupational,
- Direct shine
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Page last modified: 16 September 2003
Page published: 10 September 2003