Jenerator Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) Thanks. Yeah, I hope my son doesn't get jabbed with the tooth. By the way, I just bought the 9V batteries for the smoke detectors about 30 minutes ago. Edited October 20, 2015 by Jenerator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddesilets Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 What a great topic! Thanks for all the fantastic information! "Direct observation of the testimony of the earth ... is a matter of the laboratory, of the field naturalist, of indefatigable digging among the ancient archives of the earth's history." — Henry Fairfield Osborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Ok, just did some measurements on some of my fossils. Background radiation: ~0.09 uSv/hr Morrocan Kem Kem beds: ~0.50 uSv/hr Hell Creek Bone: ~0.09 uSv/hr Meg tooth South Carolina: ~0.15 uSv/hr Me: ~0.12 uSv/hr uSv/hr stands for micro-Sieverts per hour Thanks for all the great info, TNc. Now that we know the numbers, what is considered a safe exposure level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddesilets Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Thanks for all the great info, TNc. Now that we know the numbers, what is considered a safe exposure level? IDK what "normal" is. I do know that everything pretty much gives off radiation and not all radiation is bad. I did find this. It's in Sv's and not microSv's so keep that in mind.... http://radiationsurvival.blogspot.com/ "Direct observation of the testimony of the earth ... is a matter of the laboratory, of the field naturalist, of indefatigable digging among the ancient archives of the earth's history." — Henry Fairfield Osborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I once helped a friend transfer about 12 5-gallon buckets of Morrison Fm. dinosaur bone into boxes with handles. I wasn't worried about the radiation level but he did say keeping the dust down was a good idea. We were sorting the bone pieces roughly by size anyway so we didn't just dump the buckets into the boxes. I own several pieces of dinosaur bone from Utah and Colorado. They are from the Jurassic Age Morrison Formation. I was recently reading several articles which explained that dinosaur bone from this formation contained a significant amount of uranium oxide. Now I know that uranium in terms of radiation is relatively harmless, because of its low energy alpha radiation, but that Uranium is a deadly metal poison like thallium, mercury, or lead. Everytime I handle my specimens I wash my hands afterword. But one article said that the uranium content is so high in dinosaur bones, that lead paint needs to be applied in museum exhibits. Now the biggest of my specimens is about 4 inches long and about a quarter of an inch thick. I was wondering if the bones will give me radiation poisoning in the longterm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Lets put it this way, living in Denver, Colorado exposes you to nearly double the amount of radiation than someone receives living at sea level, and these folks live perfectly fine lives. Beyond that, sitting next to a banana exposes you to about 0.15 microSv/hour, which is the same as the Meg tooth. And eating a banana exposes you to even more radiation. Bananas contain radioactive potassium (K-40), which is the same element that the human body contains. All in all, yes I would wear the necklace if it were mine. In fact I would worry far more about it poking me (since it is a tooth) than the radiation. However, I can't legally tell you what or what not to do. As far as this entire topic goes, I would say one of the most dangerous things people in the paleontology community can do as far as radiation is concerned is inhaling the dust from a site like the Kem Kem beds, whether it be via fossil preparation or digging at the sites. I bought a tiny bone from the Kem Kem beds before I read this post... It's about the size of my thumbnail... Still in matrix. Would love to clean it up, but don't want to expose myself to anything unhealthy. I know Kem Kem bones have the most radioactivity. What should I do about this? "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 If cleaning it up creates dust, avoid breathing it. It's about all the precaution I can think of, and its a good one to follow for all rock dust. 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) If cleaning it up creates dust, avoid breathing it. It's about all the precaution I can think of, and its a good one to follow for all rock dust.Thank you for the advice! I will certainly take it! I guess it's not a big deal to keep it in my apartment then huh? Edited November 9, 2015 by Aerodactyl "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts