Radioactive materials
Radioactive materials include the isotopes of certain elements like radium, potassium and uranium. These may be found in museums of natural history specimens, and others have been used in 20th century glass and ceramics recognisable for their unnaturally bright colours. There are very few known radioactive materials in the collection at MAA, though they may yet be identified in navigation equipment or historic timepieces. Working with these materials in a museum context is generally well within safe exposure levels, especially if disposable gloves are worn during handling and there is no prolonged or direct exposure.
Objects which are identified as radioactive should be labeled with a red triangle ‘HAZARD’ in storage to encourage limited contact and in the ‘Special collections and Hazards’ section of the digital record in the collections management system.
A personal religious item (Z 18155) with yellow glass coloured with radioactive uranium and which fluoresces bright yellow under a UV torch. Radioactive materials like this are generally safe for limited exposure if handled indirectly with disposable gloves or inside a plastic bag.
Further Resources
Rowe, S., ‘A trouble shared is a trouble halved,’ 2017.
Museum of London, ‘Hazards in collections - Radiation', 2019.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 'Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity'.