is thoriated dangerous (radioactive)

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How dangerous is the radioactivity of thoriated tungsten?Do most people use respirators when TIG welding with it. If there is any danger at all why do people use it it if ceriated or lanthanated can be used in its place?
Reply:NO it's not..Read this.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13220...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Thoriated tungsten gives of beta which it the longest wave of radiation. You'll see more beta from the sunMiller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:Originally Posted by musselmarkHow dangerous is the radioactivity of thoriated tungsten?Do most people use respirators when TIG welding with it. If there is any danger at all why do people use it it if ceriated or lanthanated can be used in its place?
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2It must be verry dangerous 'cause nearly all the posters who keep asking this question are long gone from the site.
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2It must be verry dangerous 'cause nearly all the posters who keep asking this question are long gone from the site.
Reply:Lol your gonna die of something. You get more beta radiation from the sun in one day than you would from a pier of tungsten.Miller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:The DUST is the hazard, NOT the use of thoriated tungsten when WELDING. One thing is not like the other so don't confuse them. The link doesn't address ingestion of emitters, just WELDING exposure. Ingesting dust of ANY kind when metalworking isn't good for you. Nothing in metalworking is made of "friendly".See the MSDS (because you READ those for anything questionable).Thorium is an alpha emitter too.If you use a tungsten grinder, clean it out outdoors etc where you won't breath accumulated dust and wash your hands thoroughly. Wear respiratory protection when grinding or grind outdoors. If you've ever gotten "dark snot" after grinding a bunch of tungsten, most of that's "grinding wheel" but some of it's tungsten. Yes, particles of what you grind end up in your system. http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understa...l#affecthealthMost weldors don't really bother with safety much outside basics like "not burning to death", "avoiding electrocution", and "not being crushed". We're nearly all going to die slow, horrible, lingering deaths from cancer in our old age anyway.
Reply:"We're nearly all going to die slow, horrible, lingering deaths from cancer in our old age anyway. "Ah, yes.  But at least were dying from something.  Look at all the health nuts who jog, run, exercise at the gym, and so on.  THEY ARE ALL GOING TO DIE FROM NOTHING!!!  I, on the other hand am going to die from ingesting God only knows how much cow sh.t, diesel fumes, metal dust, wood dust, beer, scotch, and too much of my wife's excelent cooking. And the list goes on.....We're all going to die someday, you can die from nothing or die for a damn good reason.  Don't sweat the small stuff.Bob
Reply:The OP missed this sticky in the safety forum:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13220kidtigger24  They think I’m crazy, but I know better. It is not I who am crazy. It is I who am MAD!
Reply:Right on, Bob. Thanks to healthy diets and exercise, more people are dying in perfect health than ever before!
Reply:This must be a common school question.Tim Beeker.
Reply:As said it's the dust when sharpening 'em that the warning is really about because it's a known carcinogen i.e. while no grinding dust is good for you this is potentially worse. Given what's happened with absbestos and manganism and that Americans have persuaded the world that suing is the answer to everything you can't really blame the manufacturers from covering their butts...Last edited by hotrodder; 07-07-2012 at 07:19 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by kidtigger24The OP missed this sticky in the safety forum:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13220kidtigger24
Reply:Take a trip to the supermarket with a geiger counter, then come back and tell us what is bad for us.
Reply:Originally Posted by usmcruzI wonder how someone measures exposure, and then says it takes so much off your life.  Radiation doesnt work like that.  Even in small doses it can cause damage.  Radioactive tungsten dust in your lungs, can cause mutations.  Another word for mutation is cancer.  How quick it happens, well theirs no telling.  Ive never used thoriated, and I never will.  Arczones hybrid tungsten is perfect for any job.
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2And as life will have it, you'll probably be the one who, while vacationing somewhere and relaxing on a beach or park bench, will have your brain pierced by a falling sharpened Tungsten that had been sitting on a welder's table in Tennessee when a tornado tore the shop apart, pulled that one and only that one stick high in the sky, carried it far and wide, and dropped it there just to prove the Law of Averages is trumped by Murphy's.
Reply:Originally Posted by musselmarkHow dangerous is the radioactivity of thoriated tungsten?Do most people use respirators when TIG welding with it. If there is any danger at all why do people use it it if ceriated or lanthanated can be used in its place?
Reply:Originally Posted by Fat BastardTake a trip to the supermarket with a geiger counter, then come back and tell us what is bad for us.
Reply:I have been using it for 30+ years and there is more danger from your helper than the tungsten........lol  Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Originally Posted by OffshoreNDTdepends on how many geigers there were in the supermarket at that time, but likely none.geiger counters are for movies not for radiation exposure.
Reply:Originally Posted by musselmarkHow dangerous is the radioactivity of thoriated tungsten?Do most people use respirators when TIG welding with it. If there is any danger at all why do people use it it if ceriated or lanthanated can be used in its place?
Reply:I still love finding out if people who ask this smoke cigarettes lololWelding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com