Radioactive Metals Found in Recliners, Handbags Due to Recycling Contamination

[n2doc]

By GreenerDesign Staff, GreenerDesign
Published June 8, 2009



OAKLAND, Calif. -- Cheese graters, handbags, fencing and recliners are just some of the thousands of consumer products that have been manufactured with radioactive metals, according to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) records.

A Scripps Howard News Service investigation looked at NRC records and the current state of reporting on radioactive materials, turning up numerous flaws in the U.S.'s current system, and finding a wide range of cases in which radioactive materials and products were brought to the U.S.

NRC records show 18,740 documented cases involving radioactive materials in consumer products, in metal intended for consumer products or other public exposure to radioactive material. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates there are some 500,000 unaccounted for radioactively contaminated metal objects in the U.S., and the NRC estimates that figure is around is 20 million pounds of contaminated waste.

In some cases the products are made up primarily of the tainted materials, and in other cases it's a small component that contaminated the products. Goods that have been found tainted with radioactive materials include:

* A China-made kitchen grater, found in a Flint, Mich., scrap plant, that was laced with the isotope Cobalt-60, giving off the equivalent of a chest X-ray over 36 hours of use.

more:

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/08/radioactive-metals-recliners-handbags-recycling

[bkkyosemite]

1. And Cancer is on the rise.

[madokie]

2. Check out this google search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=radioactive+rebar&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=