Polonium - Commercial Products Containing Polonium

Commercial Products Containing Polonium

Some anti-static brushes contain up to 500 microcuries (20 MBq) of 210Po as a source of charged particles for neutralizing static electricity. In USA, the devices with no more than 500 µCi of (sealed) 210Po per unit can be bought in any amount under a "general license", which means that a buyer need not be registered by any authorities.

Tiny amounts of such radioisotopes are sometimes used in the laboratory and for teaching purposes—typically of the order of 4–40 kBq (0.1–1.0 µCi), in the form of sealed sources, with the polonium deposited on a substrate or in a resin or polymer matrix—are often exempt from licensing by the NRC and similar authorities as they are not considered hazardous. Small amounts of 210Po are manufactured for sale to the public in the United States as 'needle sources' for laboratory experimentation, and are retailed by scientific supply companies. The actual polonium is a layer of plating which in turn is plated with a material such as gold. This allows the alpha radiation (used in experiments such as cloud chambers) while preventing the polonium from being released and presenting a toxic hazard. According to United Nuclear, they typically sell between four and eight sources per year.