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UER Forum > Rookie Forum > Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards? (Viewed 2399 times)
fruitbats 


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Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< on 10/23/2018 4:10 PM >
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Hey ya'll! I'm a little new around here so forgive me if I'm re asking something, but do ya'll have any particular things you like to do before encountering possible radiation, etc? I was thinking places like old hospitals and the bright orange danger signs they always have that say Bio-hazard, but surely they'd remove the really bad stuff? And if the materials just sit long enough doesn't the bacteria or whatever made it dangerous die after a while? I know radiation sticks around longer, which leads me to my next question: are the doors that say "Caution Radioactive" worth going through? I imagine it only goes to the xray room which can't be that bad.
My apologize if I'm breaking forum decorum by posting a paragraph of questions, but at least i put it in the right place lol




blackhawk 

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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 1 on 10/23/2018 4:46 PM >
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You need to know what you're dealing with case by case. No one easy answer.
TB for example can stay viable for more then 100 years in an airtight container.
Isotopes can have half lives of hundreds of years.
An X-ray machine is harmless unless energized.

There may be dangerous chemicals even highly toxic ones present at labs and if things have been broken this could be an issue.



[last edit 10/23/2018 4:46 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

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Explorer Zero 


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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 2 on 10/24/2018 1:23 AM >
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Posted by blackhawk
An X-ray machine is harmless unless energized.



Or recycled to and smelted down in Mexico to make cheap wrought iron patio furniture or rebar

http://www.recycli...p-threat-heats-up/

watch what you sit on..




blackhawk 

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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 3 on 10/24/2018 1:35 AM >
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Posted by 2Xplorations


Or recycled to and smelted down in Mexico to make cheap wrought iron patio furniture or rebar

http://www.recycli...p-threat-heats-up/

watch what you sit on..


That's from machines that contained isotopes like cobalt 60 not X-ray machines.
These hard radiation sources are commonly used for treating cancer. It's not unheard of to run into abandoned machines with intact sources.
Very dangerous... any contact even proximity contact with an unshielded source can be lethal.



[last edit 10/24/2018 1:36 AM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

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Radio2600 


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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 4 on 10/24/2018 4:22 AM >
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I know someone that solved a nasty mouse and raccoon problem with Cobalt-60. He left the source open overnight and no more pests.

Cobalt-60 has a half life of a little over 5 years. Cesium-137 and iridium-192 have some medical applications which have a similar half life.

Radioactive material is often tightly tracked, but people do goof. Especially when the hospital they work for goes under and leaves them without a job. Thedy can exist in abandoned place, but I would be more concerned about encountering them in industrial environments than medical ones.

The glaring examples of this were Li Tungsten and Bulova which were both on Long Island.

Li Tungsten (Li being a Chinese surname pronounced "Lee") made tungsten products which included thoriated tungsten (radioactive). We were chatting in a local bar about the place and someone that once worked there overheard our discussion and said: "You have no idea what kind of radioactive nightmare you were poking around in and you're going to fucking die from it!"

Bulova as in watches, used radium paint to make the glowing watch dials when everybody thought radium was harmless.

Both of the above mentioned locations have been cleaned up and rebuilt into luxury apartments.

Biohazard:

Most of the severe biohazards are pretty much inert after a fairly short amount of unless they have been deliberately preserved or have some media to survive on.

You have a greater chance of getting sick from mold and rodent dropping.

https://www.cdc.go...seases/direct.html




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blackhawk 

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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 5 on 10/24/2018 3:26 PM >
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Posted by Radio2600
I know someone that solved a nasty mouse and raccoon problem with Cobalt-60. He left the source open overnight and no more pests.

Cobalt-60 has a half life of a little over 5 years. Cesium-137 and iridium-192 have some medical applications which have a similar half life.

Radioactive material is often tightly tracked, but people do goof. Especially when the hospital they work for goes under and leaves them without a job. Thedy can exist in abandoned place, but I would be more concerned about encountering them in industrial environments than medical ones.

The glaring examples of this were Li Tungsten and Bulova which were both on Long Island.

Li Tungsten (Li being a Chinese surname pronounced "Lee") made tungsten products which included thoriated tungsten (radioactive). We were chatting in a local bar about the place and someone that once worked there overheard our discussion and said: "You have no idea what kind of radioactive nightmare you were poking around in and you're going to fucking die from it!"

Bulova as in watches, used radium paint to make the glowing watch dials when everybody thought radium was harmless.

Both of the above mentioned locations have been cleaned up and rebuilt into luxury apartments.

Biohazard:

Most of the severe biohazards are pretty much inert after a fairly short amount of unless they have been deliberately preserved or have some media to survive on.

You have a greater chance of getting sick from mold and rodent dropping.

https://www.cdc.go...seases/direct.html


Pigeon dropping too; do not breathe the dust. Avoid breathing any dust from dried rodent urine/feces; haunta virus.

Radium paint is a very low level hazard as long as you don't ingest it or breath it in.

Bare in mind that a half life of 5 years doesn't mean it won't be still lethal at 20 years.
Without a counter you have no idea... do not go near any unshielded source.
Cobalt 60 is an intense gamma emitter used sometimes for measuring bulk material density, sterilizing foods, and other industrial uses as well as medical uses.
On shielded medical sources make sure the aperture if present is closed and the shield fully intact and hasn't been tampered with.

Realize in labs their may extremely toxic chemicals.
I'm talking one touch death kind of toxic...
NEVER open valves on gas bottles. Pink tanks are fluorine and there's much more toxic/dangerous ones...



[last edit 10/24/2018 3:57 PM by blackhawk - edited 1 times]

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Aran 


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Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.

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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 6 on 10/25/2018 5:24 AM >
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Posted by blackhawk

These hard radiation sources are commonly used for treating cancer. It's not unheard of to run into abandoned machines with intact sources.
Very dangerous... any contact even proximity contact with an unshielded source can be lethal.



Indeed. One notable example is the Goiania Incident, in which a pair of scrappers stole a canister of radioactive caesium chloride (used in radiotherapy) from an abandoned hospital in Brazil during the Autumn of 1987. They sold it to a scrapyard, who's owner brought it home with him thinking the blue glow coming from inside the punctured canister meant it could be valuable.

By the time local authorities were made aware of the issue, four people had died of radiation poisoning and over 100,000 were screened for exposure- with 250 of the people screened testing positive. This incident was be called "one of the worst nuclear disasters in modern history."

Just because the owners abandoned a building doesn't mean they cleaned up after themselves.



[last edit 10/25/2018 5:27 AM by Aran - edited 5 times]

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fruitbats 


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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 7 on 10/25/2018 1:26 PM >
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Wow, this is a whole lot I didn't know, thank you guys so much! I'm just going to avoid the radioactive signs for now, and probably get something to cover my face for the mice and whatnot, and make sure not to touch things that look questionable.




blackhawk 

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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 8 on 10/25/2018 2:48 PM >
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Posted by fruitbats
Wow, this is a whole lot I didn't know, thank you guys so much! I'm just going to avoid the radioactive signs for now, and probably get something to cover my face for the mice and whatnot, and make sure not to touch things that look questionable.


Part of the problem is what is "questionable"?
You should know what chemicals are associated with industry you're exploring. The properties of these chemicals and their appearance. I've seen bottles and bulk tanks of phosgene, H2S, pure carbon monoxide, chlorine and fluorine but never at an abandoned site... yet. I don't like even being near these, especially in a confined space.

Keep dust to a minimum.
Avoid moving shit around.
Keep your hands away from your face and eyes.
Minimum PPE; safety glasses or glasses can save an eye, a pair of leather work gloves, wear long sleeves/pants, high top lace up leather boots.
I like a bush hat to keep the sun, bugs and shit out of my eyes and hair. A bush towel is useful.
Always bring at least a quart of water in case of accidental contact with caustics, acids etc.

The hellhole thread is dedicated to hellholes of all kinds, stories about them, how to spot and avoid them.
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=122644




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Radio2600 


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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 9 on 11/3/2018 9:23 PM >
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This was the radioactive nightmare site.







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DarkAngel 


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Re: Proper Safety Precautions For Possible Radiation/Bio-hazards?
< Reply # 10 on 11/3/2018 11:19 PM >
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IMO unless you know the proper handling and PPE for that kind of stuff, avoid it. A P95 dust mask should be a minimum in abandonments just for spores and other airborne crap. We had a member here pass a few years back from inhaling spores present in bat guano.

Buying a respirator is pointless unless you’ve had a fit test and know how to properly use/decon/store one as well.




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