
Uranium Glass - EndXA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass
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Ameo
A really neat video by a Youtuber I follow - NileRed, who creates a lot of
interesting chemistry content - was released a few days ago where he produces
Uranium glass from scratch:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGw6fXprV9U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGw6fXprV9U)

If you're interested in the process and chemistry behind it, it's a very
informative and entertaining watch.

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xenocratus
Saw that a few days ago, it's amazing how much it glows from such a small
concentration of uranium.

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kjs3
Fortunate, since you wouldn't want a really large concentration laying about.

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madaxe_again
Seriously. I was surprised at how much the glass was emitting. I should
perhaps have a word with my mother, who not only uses uranium glass pitchers,
drinking glasses and serving bowls day to day, but also eats off vintage
fiestaware.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_(dinnerware)#Radioactiv...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_\(dinnerware\)#Radioactive_glazes)

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zenexer
It’s not emitting the light on its own, and the fluorescence is unrelated to
its radioactive nature. Uranium glass is generally considered harmless to keep
around on display as long as you’re not keeping it close to your body for long
durations.

That being said, you shouldn’t be eating or drinking from it. If pieces chip
off and get inside your body, that can be bad.

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cknight
The colour under UV immediately brought to mind the space LEGO sets I enjoyed
as a kid in the early 90s:
[https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/6923_Particle_Ionizer](https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/6923_Particle_Ionizer)

I wonder if uranium glass was actually the inspiration for the neon green
elements in these pieces?

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hermitdev
> space LEGO sets I enjoyed as a kid

As a kid? Now as an adult with disposable income, I can get really awesome
LEGO sets, sets I really enjoy building. I prefer Technics, but also have
several star wars sets, including the model death star (not the one with the
minifigs) and the original 32" star deatroyer. Post Christmas this year was
spent building a lot of LEGO City sets.

I also have the Saturn V and ISS sets, both of which are awesome.

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Ididntdothis
You may be interested in this [https://www.vonado.com/NASA-Saturn-V-Launch-
Umbilical-Tower-...](https://www.vonado.com/NASA-Saturn-V-Launch-Umbilical-
Tower-p178913.html). I am thinking about it....

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trm42
Other interesting radioactive glass variant: thoriated glass, which has been
used in photography lenses:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoriated_glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoriated_glass)

[https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Radioactive_lenses](https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Radioactive_lenses)

Those lenses have good metal encasing and the radiation is so small that
there’s no real problem except the lenses start to turn to yellow with age.

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penagwin
My understanding is that exposing yellowed lenses to UV light will return help
it un-yellow.

That type of glass was mostly only used in older lenses - which with the right
adapter they still work great on modern cameras!

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anonsivalley652
My mom and aunt have both collected vintage uranium glass for years and years.
(I wish they didn't have so many tchotchkes though.) Honestly, two bananas a
day would give you more radiation... it's not something to worry about.

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nabla9
Using uranium class or ceramics for eating is not recommended.

Not because the radiation it emits while intact. Alpha radiation is the
primary form of U238 and it does not penetrate skin. But the chip and wear in
everyday use means that you get particles inside your body. Alpha radiation
inside body is bigger risk and uranium is also toxic and reproductive
toxicant.

The largest radiation hazard in home is radon gas in indoor air. If you live
in an area with lots of radon emissions it's good idea to have ventilated
crawl space under the house.

[https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactivity-
antiques](https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactivity-antiques)

> Do not use ceramics like antique orange-red Fiestaware or Vaseline glass to
> hold food or drink. They can chip, and you can ingest particles of uranium
> with your food or drink.

>Dispose of any broken radioactive antiques. For instructions on proper
disposal, contact your state or local radiation control program.

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bduerst
My chem lab in college had some Fiestaware, which was similar in that it had
uranium glazed ceramic.

They stopped making it in the 1970s but you can still find it floating around
somewhere online.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_(dinnerware)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_\(dinnerware\))

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Bootwizard
Oh god I used to have some of these!!

I inherited them from my grandmother. Should I be worried about having used
them for years?

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jcranmer
If you used that dinnerware every day, you've received about as much radiation
from the dinnerware as you have from the potassium in your body (about
400µSv/year).

You'd need about 100,000 µSv/year to get heightened cancer risks.

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MengerSponge
Fun fact that isn't on its Wikipedia page: Uranium glass is particularly
impermeable to helium, making it less depolarizing to helium-3 than
borosilicate or even pure silica glass.

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oehtXRwMkIs
For anyone wondering, it seems like it's (usually?) safe to eat/drink from
uranium glassware.

[http://www.hps.org/documents/consumerproducts.pdf](http://www.hps.org/documents/consumerproducts.pdf)

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saagarjha
I have heard that acidic foods and drinks can leak the uranium from the glass
like any heavy metal.

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rdlw
Tangentially, the tomato was thought to be poisonous by Europeans because the
acid would leech lead from pewter plates.

Here's an article, though I heard about this from the Hawaiian Pizza episode
of The Anthropocene Reviewed.

[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-the-
tomato-w...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-the-tomato-was-
feared-in-europe-for-more-than-200-years-863735/)

Edit: Acid leaches lead, not acid. Misuse of 'leech' preserved for posterity.

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kjs3
I had always heard the tomato was thought to be poisonous because it's part of
the Nightshade family (Solanaceae), many of which _are_ poisonous.

[https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/solanaceae.htm](https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/solanaceae.htm)

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PeCaN
This seems unlikely since many are edible and some (e.g. potato, eggplant,
tobacco) were eaten concurrently with the tomato confusion in Europe.

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catalogia
Tomatoes themselves were being eaten concurrently with tomato confusion in
Europe. Tomatoes were from South America; entirely unknown to Europe until the
Spanish introduced them. The Spanish brought them back to Europe with the
intent of eating them. The Spanish, Italians, many in France, etc were happily
eating tomatoes when people in Britain decided they were poisonous.

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Shivetya
I collect a lot of vintage glass, Vaseline/Uranium glass is still for the most
part in a less desirable category namely many who collect look for pieces that
look good in natural light. For the most part its comes down to, it is neat to
show to friends once.

There were so many glass companies from Virginia to Ohio and most dabbled in
this for a run or two so good examples are easy to find on ebay cheaply. I
found the more solid pieces to be best for the light effect.

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friendlybus
Whats the coolest vintage glass?

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technotarek
It’s popular on our vintage/artisan search engine: [https://attic-
dc.com/search/uranium](https://attic-dc.com/search/uranium)

