![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Apparently, smoke detectors have a radioactive substance in them. I probably learned that many years ago and filed it under "this will not impact my life". ...until now!
Over 25 years ago, smoke detectors in Canada (and most of the world) began using Am-241 (Americium-241). When they were first introduced, Canadian consumers were instructed to return them to the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada (AECB) in Ottawa, rather than put them in the household trash, because of the radioactive Am-241. This requirement was removed shortly afterward, because the radioactivity is actually less than the regular background radiation we're all exposed to.
I bring this up because I just replaced a smoke detector in our house that solemnly instructed me to return it to the AECB in Ottawa. It still worked mind you, because it's given us nuisance alarms during cooking several times.
That is all. Please comment with your own punch line.
Over 25 years ago, smoke detectors in Canada (and most of the world) began using Am-241 (Americium-241). When they were first introduced, Canadian consumers were instructed to return them to the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada (AECB) in Ottawa, rather than put them in the household trash, because of the radioactive Am-241. This requirement was removed shortly afterward, because the radioactivity is actually less than the regular background radiation we're all exposed to.
I bring this up because I just replaced a smoke detector in our house that solemnly instructed me to return it to the AECB in Ottawa. It still worked mind you, because it's given us nuisance alarms during cooking several times.
That is all. Please comment with your own punch line.
