I worked underground hard rock copper mining nearly 30 years ago . . . a
mile down on a 3-story tall primary crusher to make the extracted ore
small enough to get it out of the mine. Quite wet is an
understatement. It was dripping, soaking wet, and I wore a respirator
with a massive filter . . . along with ear muffs for hearing protection .
. . 1000f the time.
What an amazing work history!
BTW, I'd be much more concerned about the silicosis from the ground up
"thorium" glass also. The *real* danger around minute amounts of very low
radioactive materials is NOT exposure to its radition. The very real
hazard is ingesting it, by inhaling it or orally. Some elements in
particular, because of their position on the Mendeleevian chart, will
replace other elements in the human body and be held there for a very long
time. One of the greatest hazards from fission reactors and "fallout"
from nuclear tests is ingestion of Strontium 90 (a common byproduct of
fission) which is readily used by the human body in lieu of Calcium and
emits *Beta* particles. About a third of it that's ingested ends up in
the bones and teeth. The half-life of Strontium 90 is a horrendously long
29+ years! I'm not that concerned about very low level Alpha-emitters
provided they're not emitting anything else (Beta in particular). Alpha
particles don't get much farther than the very outer surface of the skin
which is already dead anyway.
Another ingredient is Cesium. It replaces one of the ions in the nerve
cell and, because of it's larger size, cannot respond to the sodium
pump. Consequently, the resting electrical potential of a nerve cell is
reduced by about 25%. While studying this in college we found an
interesting relationship in the amount of Cesium uptake by a human to the
position on the food chain, or on the kind of foods a person eats. As the
fallout settles as dust and then is consumed by animals which then store
the Cesium in their tissues, there was a tenfold increase from a total
vegetarian diet to a diet which also consumed eggs and milk, and another
tenfold increase if meat products were consumed. Not really a part of our
study, yet an interesting aside.
gregg
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|