ScienceHideout
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Registered: 12-3-2011
Location: In the Source
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Accident with radiation?
I was reading about storage of chemicals today and it got me thinking- "I think that I should put my vial of uranium sulfate in secondary
containment." So, I got my lead pig down, and opened it up, but it was too late. I wasn't wearing gloves... and you know how it is really hydroscopic?
Well, the whole vial was in solution form, and I noticed that there were a few microdrops that may have leaked from the cap. So... assuming the worst,
I ran to the sink and rinsed my hands off REALLY well. I then washed them with soap and water. I went back to the room and put gloves on, and gently
wiped the vial with paper towel. The wet spots on the towel were yellow  . I took
care of the containment... wrapping it up in parafilm and plastic bags REALLY well. I am seriously worried that my skin may have actually come in
direct contact with a miniscule amount of uranium. So, I read the MSDS sheets. You know how MSDS sheets are. One says you are going to die, the other
one says rinse for fifteen minutes with water whether you are talking about sodium chloride or mercury chloride!
I don't feel like I was harmed. I am sure that I will live. My finger does not look or feel any different. But anyways, I would really just like to
see what you guys think because there is always a speck of doubt. I am quite certain that there are people who work with radioactive things on a daily
basis, and I just would like to know what you would do if this happened.
Thanks,
Dean
hey, if you are reading this, I can't U2U, but you are always welcome to send me an email!
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neptunium
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my humble opinion? you are just as fine as if you would have messed with a jar of peanut butter...it aint like you drown in it!
dont panic nothing significant got into your system. you had a mess you cleanned it up ... moving on...
[Edited on 23-8-2014 by neptunium]
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ScienceHideout
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Cool, thanks for the comfort Neptunium 
I know that you have worked with radioactives quite a bit before, so if you insist that I will be fine, well, I really respect and believe your
opinion.
hey, if you are reading this, I can't U2U, but you are always welcome to send me an email!
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neptunium
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no problem...i know it can be scary and you did the right thing. but uranium salt are mostly alpha emitter and dont penetrate the skin. the fine dust
in large quantity can be a hazard but unless you dink your solution you'll be ok
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careysub
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Quote: Originally posted by ScienceHideout  | I was reading about storage of chemicals today and it got me thinking- "I think that I should put my vial of uranium sulfate in secondary
containment." So, I got my lead pig down, and opened it up, but it was too late. I wasn't wearing gloves... and you know how it is really hydroscopic?
Well, the whole vial was in solution form, and I noticed that there were a few microdrops that may have leaked from the cap. So... assuming the worst,
I ran to the sink and rinsed my hands off REALLY well. I then washed them with soap and water. I went back to the room and put gloves on, and gently
wiped the vial with paper towel. The wet spots on the towel were yellow . I took
care of the containment... wrapping it up in parafilm and plastic bags REALLY well. I am seriously worried that my skin may have actually come in
direct contact with a miniscule amount of uranium. So, I read the MSDS sheets. You know how MSDS sheets are. One says you are going to die, the other
one says rinse for fifteen minutes with water whether you are talking about sodium chloride or mercury chloride!
I don't feel like I was harmed. I am sure that I will live. My finger does not look or feel any different. But anyways, I would really just like to
see what you guys think because there is always a speck of doubt. I am quite certain that there are people who work with radioactive things on a daily
basis, and I just would like to know what you would do if this happened.
Thanks,
Dean |
If you want a detailed report on what is known about uranium toxicity look at this:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp150-c3.pdf
There are no known cases of adverse human effects from dermal exposure apparently.
They can get toxic effects in lab animals by painting them with large amounts of soluble compounds for days or weeks, but dermal absorption of uranium
is very poor.
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subsecret
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Actually, my chemistry professor was exposed to a good bit of some radioactive isotope of iodine. Nothing she had to be decontaminated, but suffered
no serious injuries.
Fear is what you get when caution wasn't enough.
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Oscilllator
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By far and away the most worrying thing here is not in fact that Uranium is radioactive (as neptunium pointed out, Uranium emits mostly He2+) but that
Uranium is a heavy metal, and as such is fairly toxic. As such if I spilt Uranium on my hand I would treat it the same way as if I had spilt lead or
mercury.
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chornedsnorkack
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| Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator | | By far and away the most worrying thing here is not in fact that Uranium is radioactive (as neptunium pointed out, Uranium emits mostly He2+) but that
Uranium is a heavy metal, and as such is fairly toxic. As such if I spilt Uranium on my hand I would treat it the same way as if I had spilt lead or
mercury. |
Um, mercury and lead form organic compounds that can get through membranes. Uranium does not. You do have to pay attention to specific chemistry,
otherwise you will think beryllium safe because it is not heavy.
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HeYBrO
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| Quote: Originally posted by chornedsnorkack | | Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator | | By far and away the most worrying thing here is not in fact that Uranium is radioactive (as neptunium pointed out, Uranium emits mostly He2+) but that
Uranium is a heavy metal, and as such is fairly toxic. As such if I spilt Uranium on my hand I would treat it the same way as if I had spilt lead or
mercury. |
Um, mercury and lead form organic compounds that can get through membranes. Uranium does not. You do have to pay attention to specific chemistry,
otherwise you will think beryllium safe because it is not heavy. |
what oscillator said still holds true in context of the thread pertaining to Uranium sulphate. He made no mention to any organic mercury or lead
compounds and is not related to the thread... However, it is correct some organic mercury compounds can permeate through gloves (e.g. dimethyl
mercury)
Edit: damn auto correct
[Edited on 28-8-2014 by HeYBrO]
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neptunium
National Hazard
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Registered: 12-12-2011
Location: between Uranium and Plutonium
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20 years ago i worked in nuclear power plant in "hot" zone we had to decontaminate all kinds of pumps, tools, shields, pipes etc ... some of it can
and regulary do end up on your suit or even on your skin...
no big deal the gate on your way out ,picked it up and you had to be decomtaminated sometimes with sometimes without underwear....
it happens...
i am still here to talk about it and i can assure you there is worse things than uranium compound out there!
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Pyro
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it's no real problem unless you eat it.
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro.  |
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woelen
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| Quote: Originally posted by ScienceHideout | I was reading about storage of chemicals today and it got me thinking- "I think that I should put my vial of uranium sulfate in secondary
containment." So, I got my lead pig down, and opened it up, but it was too late. I wasn't wearing gloves... and you know how it is really hydroscopic?
Well, the whole vial was in solution form, and I noticed that there were a few microdrops that may have leaked from the cap. So... assuming the worst,
I ran to the sink and rinsed my hands off REALLY well. I then washed them with soap and water. I went back to the room and put gloves on, and gently
wiped the vial with paper towel. The wet spots on the towel were yellow . I took
care of the containment... wrapping it up in parafilm and plastic bags REALLY well. I am seriously worried that my skin may have actually come in
direct contact with a miniscule amount of uranium. So, I read the MSDS sheets. You know how MSDS sheets are. One says you are going to die, the other
one says rinse for fifteen minutes with water whether you are talking about sodium chloride or mercury chloride!
I don't feel like I was harmed. I am sure that I will live. My finger does not look or feel any different. But anyways, I would really just like to
see what you guys think because there is always a speck of doubt. I am quite certain that there are people who work with radioactive things on a daily
basis, and I just would like to know what you would do if this happened.
Thanks,
Dean |
Your panic did much more harm to you (think of how your heart must have suffered from this event) than the uranium did. Radioactivity of uranium is
low and brief exposure to its radioactivity has no impact at all. Background radiation which you have 24/7 over the year introduces much more
radiation strain than a few minutes of exposure to the uranium salt.
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