- #1
vvcurious
Hi.
I have a very embarrassing question to ask.
I was changed the battery in my smoke detector, which is the sort that uses americium to work. I have a bad habit of chewing and swallowing my nails, and also picking and my nose and swallowing the stuff from my nose, too.
I'm paranoid that I inadvertently did one of those two (or both?) after handling the smoke detector.
I recently learned that the americium seems to just be painted on to a metal button inside the plastic casing, which isn't even really well contained in terms of my own smoke detector. I always thought they were super enclosed in a very non-destructable metal casing. SO, basically, now I'm paranoid I ingested some of the americium by these series of actions.
Is that even a rational thing to worry about? Am I missing some details about how smoke detectors work? I understand they are alpha emitters, but since the question is whether or not I ingested it, and not whether or not I got in on my skin I guess it could be.
I came across this lab manual that says you should wash your hands when handling radioactive substances, even after touching a smoke detector, so now I'm like "Ahhh!".
http://myslu.stlawu.edu/~jmil/physics/labs/152_lab/inactive/smoke_detector_old.pdf
I have a very embarrassing question to ask.
I was changed the battery in my smoke detector, which is the sort that uses americium to work. I have a bad habit of chewing and swallowing my nails, and also picking and my nose and swallowing the stuff from my nose, too.
I'm paranoid that I inadvertently did one of those two (or both?) after handling the smoke detector.
I recently learned that the americium seems to just be painted on to a metal button inside the plastic casing, which isn't even really well contained in terms of my own smoke detector. I always thought they were super enclosed in a very non-destructable metal casing. SO, basically, now I'm paranoid I ingested some of the americium by these series of actions.
Is that even a rational thing to worry about? Am I missing some details about how smoke detectors work? I understand they are alpha emitters, but since the question is whether or not I ingested it, and not whether or not I got in on my skin I guess it could be.
I came across this lab manual that says you should wash your hands when handling radioactive substances, even after touching a smoke detector, so now I'm like "Ahhh!".
http://myslu.stlawu.edu/~jmil/physics/labs/152_lab/inactive/smoke_detector_old.pdf