Gizmodo: tritium

Japanese Couple Sold Glowing Lanyards That Were 26 Times Allowable Radiation Level, Gets Arrested

Jason Chen — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

If you were going to sell radioactive cellphones loaded with tritium—from Hiroshima, Japan, no less—you should probably check to make sure that they're not twenty-six times the amount legally allowed. You know, just so you're not arrested by the cops for not having special permission from the Ministry of Science and Technology to even handle the substance. On the other hand, if you're making a living selling lanyards for between $47 and $61 each, we wouldn't blame you for being Johnny No-Law. [Yomiuri via CrunchGear]

Radioactive Tritium Makes Keychain Light Glow For 10 Years

Jason Chen — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:15:00 EDT

Besides being somewhat dim, most keychain lights have batteries that only last a couple months before needing to be replaced—which often never happens since nobody has watch batteries lying around. But what if you could have this Mini Tritium Keychain, which lasts about 10 years without needing to be replaced? If you're worried that keeping something radioactive in your pocket next to your gonads is a bad idea, keep in mind that the particles emitted are supposedly so weak they don't even penetrate your skin. Also keep in mind that science has been wrong about stuff before. [DealExtreme via Gear Diary via Oh Gizmo]

Neon Glowring: Radioactive Solution to Lost Keys

Charlie White — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 09:31:05 EDT

Always losing your keys? Turn off the lights and you'll instantly see them with the Neon Glowring key ring, and it doesn't even need batteries. That's because it works with a Gaseous Tritium Light Source (GTLS). Uh-oh. Isn't that radioactive? Yep, that's why it doesn't need batteries, and its glow will be visible for up to 20 feet for the next 10 years.

Funny, but you can't buy one of these in the UK because it's radioactive. But it's not that radioactive. Is it? Not sure we'd want to have one of these around. It'll cost you $17.34 to see if the thing burns a hole in your leg.

Glowring Neon Green [Boy's Stuff, via Shiny Shiny]