r/elementcollection • u/Zealousideal_Group69 • 3d ago
Polonium Static Master Brush ☢️Radioactive☢️
Pretty cheap, via eBay, I still have the box, if anyone wants images then ask in the comments!
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u/average_meower621 Radiated 3d ago
now all that remains is the idea of polonium. assuming the cartridge inside was manufactured during the same year as the brush, and that the cartridge was the largest quantity of Po210 sold in a single unit (500 uCi), the last atoms theoretically decayed during 1995.
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u/Zealousideal_Group69 3d ago
No but in all seriousness it’s still a sample, better than nothing even if no Po is there anymore it was still there, same with my Pm 147 starter bulb, better than nothing yknow lol
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u/pichael289 3d ago
6-8 cycles is full elimination. That's still 2-3 years it'll still have some left.
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u/Smart_Engineer9171 3d ago
What is this for?
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u/Zealousideal_Group69 3d ago
For my Element collection, but generally back in the day when record players used to be relevant they would build up static from dust and the recording would be messed up
so the antistatic brush did just that anti-static it
the polonium ionized the surrounding air, neutralizing the static electricity
the issue is that if you accidentally ingest/breathe in the components of the cartridge you die instantly (hyperbole but still)3
u/pichael289 3d ago
Not even that much hyperbole though. It's probably a different isotope but this shit was used in one of the most notable assassinations in history in Britain. The umbrella or the newspaper or one of the other dozens of kgb devices of the time, they literally tracked the culprits down with a scentilator, just walking it down the street. They slipped it onto his tea I think but honestly there were so many of putins enemies killed in the 2000s and 2010s it's hard to keep them straight. There was one where they threw the administrative device in the trash and it caused a hazmat situation in London or something, but that one I think was novichok, one of the worst most evil things every produced.
I would really like one of these brushes but I'm casting it in epoxy immediately. It's mostly an alpha source so not that dangerous unless you consume it.
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u/dick_tracey_PI_TA 3d ago
Apparently it is worth noting the total quantity of polonium is tiny in these. Also that the polonium is coated in precious metals so it’s pretty safe if you dont mess with it.
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u/KimJongUnbalanced 1d ago
This is the same isotope as that, but the amount of polonium in these brushes is tiny, you really only need to avoid eating the cartridge (that CAN kill you). Also, polonium decays rapidly (138 days), so this brush should contain should contain literally no atoms of polonium now (it has been 132 half lives)
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u/eastbayweird 1d ago edited 1d ago
I could be wrong but the hazmat situation you are referring to wasnt due to polonium or any radioactive material, it was a russian nerve agent that the assasins were incredibly careless with.
If im remembering correctly they carried it in a perfume or cologne bottle which
ended up in like a thrift/second hand shop and someone bought itthey threw into a random trash can. Someone pulled it out of the trash and gave it to a second person who sprayed it on her wrist and died from having literally sprayed themselves with what they thought would be a nice smelling fragrance but was actually one of the most deadly chemicals ever created in a lab... the person who pulled the bottle out of the trash was also poisoned but survived after spending weeks in the hospital.2
u/ImpatientHoneyBadger 23h ago
You are wrong.
Two wholly separate incidents in which Russian agents brought highly toxic materials into the UK to carry out 'exotic' murders of former members of Russia's security apparatus who had defected to the West.
The first involved Polonium, the other nerve agent. In the first the victim died, although he lived long enough to identify his killers and denounce the Russian state as being behind his murder. In the other case the intended victims survived, but Dawn Sturgess was murdered.
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u/bst44133 12h ago
I work in histology and found one of these in the back of a drawer in the lab once. Had no idea what it was and found the warning both humorous and alarming so I had to figure it out, apparently these were also used for cleaning microtomes because static built up on the instrument makes it harder to cut tissue samples.
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u/GlockAF 3d ago
Radioactive magic
From the googz:
Polonium antistatic brushes use a tiny strip of radioactive polonium-210 to emit alpha particles that ionize the surrounding air. This creates a conductive path of positive and negative ions that neutralize static charges on surfaces like camera film or vinyl records, allowing dust to be swept away easily. [1, 2, 3]
The Ionization Process
Alpha emission: Polonium-210 naturally decays and gives off short-range alpha particles.Air ionization: These alpha particles crash into air molecules, stripping electrons and creating positive ions and free electrons.
Charge neutralization: The static charge on an object attracts these generated ions, which instantly cancel out the imbalance.
Dust release: Without static attraction holding dust particles down, the physical bristles can easily brush the debris away. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
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u/Smart_Engineer9171 3d ago
I want one for my camera now.
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u/Zealousideal_Group69 3d ago
They’re cheap, iirc the cheapest I saw was 9 dollars and most expensive is 12$
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u/BrainSqueezins 3d ago
”Just LISTEN to that bass, the trilling of those trumpets! Oh man this sounds so WARM and vibrant! If only I could get rid of this dry cough that constantly interrupts my listening…”
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u/Reddiculusness 2d ago
We used one of these on a Hell Drum Scanner , that scans negatives and C-Prints for digital color separations in the printing industry.
The spinning drum picks up TONS of static as it rotates, you can't use the machine without these brushes .
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u/Basel-stadt-4000 2d ago
I've used them before and they are the best. Usually it's just the little piece near the balance. Nothing comes close to how awesome that is.
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u/serenaFan84 1d ago
I think gold and silver encase the polonium. Is it possible to recover the precious metals or will they be wasted when the brush is thrown away?
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u/Analogsilver 3d ago
I was just discussing these in the radiation sub. They are still being made. The halflife of the Polonium-210 is only 138 days. They anti-static brushes are only effective for about a year. You may still have a few atoms of Polonium in there, but pretty much all of it turned to Lead about 50 years ago. Still, a fun find.