Radium Oil temperature gauge luminous dial
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Oil temperature gauge luminous dial.
This oil temperature gauge is out of a WWII bomber and it has a luminous dial made with radium paint. The luminosity has faded, which is known to happen due to the deterioration of the zinc sulfide phosphor. It is still definitely radioactive (half-life of 1600 years, so it's going to be that way for a long time). It was donated by Trish Craig of the Environmental Health & Safety department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Here's a great article about an object I'd sure like to find and enclose behind a huge amount of lead/

If you're interested in collecting radioactive things, here is a book I highly recommend.

Source: Trish Craig
Contributor: Trish Craig
Acquired: 28 May, 2002
Text Updated: 11 August, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 3"
Purity: <1%
Radium