Firestone Polonium (radioactive electrode) spark plugs

[Tommo]

I've had a box of ten of these spark plugs given to me to add to my spark plug collection and they raise the concern as to whether or not they are safe to have.
A Google search turns up all sorts of alarming comments by various people but does not tell you, if after 60 odd years, they still pose any threat to your health.
Does anybody in the AMCA have any hard facts that suggest they are a threat to ones wellbeing ?
It seems like "Polonium" is a pretty nasty substance so it would be nice to know some facts especially as my grandsons like assisting me and I would never forgive myself if something happened due to some old spark plugs.
Any nuclear scientists on here that may like to comment ?

[Sargehere]

Not "dangerous' in the least, Tommo. Polonium sparkplugs were a short-lived "gimmick" product in the 1940s. Contained a small amount of Polonium (a slightly radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie around the turn of the Twentieth Century and named for her native Poland, BTW).

FIRST of all, the radioactive half-life of Polonium (time it takes to lose half its original radioactive qualities after original refinement) is 138 days. SECOND Polonium emits alpha rays, not more potent Gamma rays. Alpha rays won't penetrate human skin. A sheet of paper, even, is an effective "radiation shield" against Alpha rays. And if you have an old radium watch face around the house, or a working smoke detector on your ceiling, you're getting more radiation than 70 year-old Polonium sparkplugs could give you. Hope this allays your concerns!

[Tommo]

Thanks for that Gerry

[sirhrmechanic]

Not a nuclear scientist, but stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

And I want PICTURES!!!

Sounds pretty cool... Love to see the plugs/boxes. That old advertising/marketing is always fun.

Cheers,

Sirhr

[BoschZEV]

And I want PICTURES!!!

Use a film camera to take those pictures. If the prints come back with a large white blur at the end of the spark plug it will tell you they were as careless isolating the polonium from uranium and thorium as we know they were about such things back then...

[T. Cotten]

I s'pose there's no hope for depleted uranium flywheels someday... .. . ?

....Cotten

[sirhrmechanic]

If you put two of them in a twin... no problem.

Put four of them in an Indian Four and you get critical mass.... Boom! Welcome to Nagasaki.

Cheers,

Pierce

[sirhrmechanic]

PS... I think your best bet would be tungsten flywheels. In pure form... stronger than cast iron. Stronger than most steel. Much denser. I think 4x the density... Not as likely to ignite during machining as DU. Your output torque numbers could go off the charts with a tungsten flywheel. Just don't expect it to achieve peak revs very fast ;-)

Cheers,

Sirhr

[Tommo]

Sirhr I can't do photos at present because the plugs are at the local university being tested.
I just want to make sure they're completely safe.
It is interesting that it did get a reaction from one of their instruments and this caused some raised eyebrows so time will tell.
I'll keep you posted.
There's pictures and descriptions of them at this website http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/c...sparkplugs.htm
The box is the same as mine and the spark plug is the same as the one nearest the box.

[23JDCA 808]

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...65.OCEsIdpcTfU

[fillibuster]

[QUOTE=23JDCA 808;133250]https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...65.OCEsIdpcTfU[

That was eye-pleasing!

This all takes me back, to 1965, when the old 56 Chevy w/ 265 got run out of oil (big sisters driving the hell out of it!). Fouled a lot of plugs after that. Dad ordered some JC Whitney plugs that were un-conventional, and warned against because they were rumored to burn holes in the pistons (which I think is what eventually put the old 265 to sleep). The plugs would shoot a "flame" out the bottom. They were supposed to be resistant to fouling from carbon buildup because they had no gap to build up with carbon.
anybody else remember them?

[Sargehere]

...I can't do photos at present because the plugs are at the local university being tested. I just want to make sure they're completely safe...

Give you credit for being thoroughly diligent, Tommo! Awaiting the scientific report on these old plugs. I think they're safe unless you lick um, or ingest some of the Polonium somehow. And there's a difference between Polonium isotopes. Perhaps we'll get a clue. Thanks for posting this!