WEBVTT - Is Uranium Glass Radioactive?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff production of iHeart radio Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>stuff learned bolba blam here way before its radioactive properties

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<v Speaker 1>were discovered and exploited for both good I think nuclear

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<v Speaker 1>power and bad think nuclear war, and way before it

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<v Speaker 1>was officially granted its place among the elements of the

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<v Speaker 1>periodic table. The rare metal uranium was used by ancient

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<v Speaker 1>Romans to color glass back in seventy nine or so,

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<v Speaker 1>and neither radioactivity nor uranium meant anything to the Romans

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<v Speaker 1>or anyone The concepts as such simply didn't exist yet

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<v Speaker 1>neither did Uranus, the planet for which uranium is named.

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<v Speaker 1>For that matter, but the small glowing glass tiles in

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<v Speaker 1>some mosaics and tricked out Roman villas they were pretty cool. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>the Romans used uranium in their glass, and the mode

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<v Speaker 1>versions of the stuff still exists. It goes by a

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<v Speaker 1>few different names and is even still being produced in

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<v Speaker 1>small quantities in Europe, but it's more of a curio

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<v Speaker 1>now than anything else, found in the form of pictures

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<v Speaker 1>and bowls and other glassware in flea markets, dusty attics, museums,

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<v Speaker 1>and among glass collectors. Glass to achieve added uranium will

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<v Speaker 1>look translucent, yellowish green under normal light, or it can

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<v Speaker 1>be colored other shades of translucent or opaque, but under

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<v Speaker 1>ultraviolet light it fluoresces bright green. I think the color

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<v Speaker 1>used for Nuclear Goo and Atomic Age, horror illustrations, or

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<v Speaker 1>the Ninja Turtles or the Simpsons. For the article this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Paul Frame,

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<v Speaker 1>a retired health physicist at Tennessee's oak Ridge Associated Universities,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a consortium of schools founded after World War

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<v Speaker 1>Two as the oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. For years,

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<v Speaker 1>Frame was also the curator at the consortium's Health Physics

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<v Speaker 1>Historical Instrumentation Museum, also known as the Museum of Radiation

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<v Speaker 1>and Radioactivity, which chronicles the scientific and commercial history of

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<v Speaker 1>radioactivity and radiation. Frame said, it is kind of attractive

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<v Speaker 1>because it has that ear doesn't glow to it under

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<v Speaker 1>certain lighting conditions. It really looks kind of special. There

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<v Speaker 1>are some people out there that are particularly interested in

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<v Speaker 1>it because it's radioactive, and there are other people who

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<v Speaker 1>just collect glassware, the styles and so forth. But there's

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<v Speaker 1>so much of this stuff out there that despite the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that there's a variety of people that are interested

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<v Speaker 1>in it, it really doesn't have a lot of value

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<v Speaker 1>unless it's a particularly unique piece of glassware, size, design, artistry,

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of thing. Uranium glass is also known as

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<v Speaker 1>vasoline glass because that translucent yellowish green reminded some people

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<v Speaker 1>of Vasoline brand petroleum jelly, and it certainly has its

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<v Speaker 1>die hard fans. Some collectors and deficionados of the stuff

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<v Speaker 1>gather every year for conventions to buy, sell, show off,

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<v Speaker 1>and learn about uranium glass pieces. One convention was in

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<v Speaker 1>its twenty second year. In addition, some antique shops and

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<v Speaker 1>exchanges feature large collections of the glowing, sometimes eerie looking glass.

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<v Speaker 1>Uranium was identified as an element in sevent nine, and

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<v Speaker 1>Austrian glassmakers are credited with knowingly producing the first uranium

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<v Speaker 1>glass around eighteen thirty. In World War Two, the US

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<v Speaker 1>government restricted the use of uranium for coloring glass. It

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<v Speaker 1>was thought that the uranium might be needed for nuclear weapons,

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<v Speaker 1>a band that lasted until the latter part of ninety

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<v Speaker 1>which brings us to an interesting question. Is uranium glass radioactive?

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<v Speaker 1>In a word, yes, uranium glass is indeed radioactive. That said,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no need to run for the hills or the

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<v Speaker 1>nearest bomb shelter frame said it's absolutely true we're dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with with vaseline glass is something that is radioactive just

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<v Speaker 1>like everything else, and it is more radioactive than the

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<v Speaker 1>majority of things, and that you can detect the radioactivity

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<v Speaker 1>of vassline or uranium glass with a handheld meter like

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<v Speaker 1>a Geiger counter. Is the radioactivity from uranium glass strong

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<v Speaker 1>enough to say, morph someone into a big green, angry

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<v Speaker 1>guy or a part kid, part a rachnoid, or strong

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<v Speaker 1>enough to make you sick or kill you. Basically, no

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<v Speaker 1>Frame offered up a quick history lesson, he said. Marie

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<v Speaker 1>Curry got these more residues from the Czech Republic back

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<v Speaker 1>in the day, and she extracted the uranium, but discovered

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<v Speaker 1>what was left behind was even more radioactive than the

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<v Speaker 1>uranium itself. The material that made the residues most radioactive

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<v Speaker 1>turned out to be radium, not the uranium. So in

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<v Speaker 1>uranium or you have this whole host of radioactive stuff

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<v Speaker 1>and the key player there is really radium. A radium

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<v Speaker 1>to uranium itself is not all that radioactive. Still Frame

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<v Speaker 1>will admit there may be some incredibly small risk involved

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<v Speaker 1>with uranium glass. He said, it's basically a theoretical risk.

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<v Speaker 1>The radioactive exposures you get from flying in an airplane

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<v Speaker 1>or inhaling air in your home which has rate on

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<v Speaker 1>in it, they're so much greater than any dose that

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<v Speaker 1>anyone's going to get from uranium or vasoline glass. There is,

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<v Speaker 1>for all practical purposes no risk, zero risk, which for

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<v Speaker 1>collectors and admirers is good news, because blast that glows

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<v Speaker 1>is just cool. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>how uranium glass Got its glow on on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot Com, written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Playing

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<v Speaker 1>with assistance from Ramsey Young. For more podcasts for My

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