Richard,

        You entire premise is flawed.  Radioactivity is a natural byproduct of 
decaying organic material and has it's rightful place in the ground.  By being 
there it is safely away from harming humans and other living things that have 
no need for this type of radioactivity.  By your premise digging it up, 
concentrating it and putting in our personal environments is ok.  Nothing could 
be farthur from the truth.  This type of energy is destructive to DNA... it 
kills living things in such high concentrations.  Why would you want to expose 
yourself or your loved ones to ionizing radiation?  It causes cancer, genetic 
defects, and a host of other diseases in plants, animals, and man.  

Bob
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Del 
  To: silver-list@eskimo.com 
  Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:14 AM
  Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector


  Chernobyl
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Richard Goodwin 
    To: silver-list@eskimo.com 
    Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 8:43 AM
    Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector


    If a radioactive substance is moved from one place, e.g. in the ground, to 
another place, e.g., in a smoke detector, how is that "adding" to it?

    All the radioactive matter on earth is somewhere right now.  When we use 
it, we move it from wherever it is to some place else.  We don't create it.

    Actually, you could make an argument that by mining radioactive substances 
and concentrating them into reactors, bombs, or other "products", you are 
making the world a bit safer, since it is easier to avoid exposure to reactors, 
bombs, etc, than to the same substances all spread out in the ground.

    I never have understood quite why people get all wrapped around the axle 
about some things.  For example, we take aluminum out of the ground, where it 
is one of the more abundant elements in the earth's crust, and we make beer 
cans out of it.  But if we then put that aluminum back in the ground, e.g., by 
throwing empty beer cans into the dump, people get all in a lather about 
pollution.  Why?  We are just putting the aluminum back where we found it.

    And "wasting water".  People get all wound up about using too much water.  
But it's not like it gets used up.  It's still there after whatever we use it 
for.  And it comes back to us from rain, etc.  Why all the furor?  

    Yeah, I know, there can be local shortages, but overall the total amount of 
water on earth doesn't really change, does it?

    Dick




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From: Bob Banever <bbane...@earthlink.net>
    To: silver-list@eskimo.com
    Sent: Thu, April 22, 2010 8:58:34 PM
    Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector


    Alan,

         Yes of course.  Best not to add to it.  I'm sure you would agree.

          Cheers.
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Alan Jones 
      To: silver-list@eskimo.com 
      Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:37 PM
      Subject: Re: CS>A closer look at americium 241 from a smoke detector


      Better go live in a lead box, even the natural world is full of it. 



      On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 6:12 PM, Bob Banever <bbane...@earthlink.net> 
wrote:

        No amount of radiation is trivial.  No level is safe and all ionizing 
radiation causes damage to DNA.


      -- 
      Alan Jones

      "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people."  (Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution)