I removed cold ashes that had been building up since I started burning in October, from my Canadian made Blaze King. I put them in a 5 gal. bucket, then got the idea to use my Inspector GC , I held it above the ashes about 1 inch, and I watched the CPM count climb up and up to 230 CPM, and I was ready to Dump them on my fruit trees, what a mistake that would have been. I think I"ll take them to the local fire department and they can dispose of the Radioactive waste. The wood I burned was Oak and Myrtle, just 1 cord . Be careful of your ashes !

Very smart of you to test these ashes...

...and you should test your air filters as well!


Ashing will allow for a higher detection rate as the moisture in living cells block or shield many of the radioactive materials contained in the cells from the counter. This is particularly true with Alpha emitters (plutonium and americium). Ashing is a popular way to test foods in the lab for radiation as the detection rates are much higher without the moisture normally present in the whole food or substance.

And when using Gamma Spectroscopy ashing makes it more accurate when trying to detect individual isotopes.


The thing to do is save some (1/4 cup or so) of the ashes and find someone setup to test for CS 137, CS 134 (the nasty one) and I 131 (the really nasty one) or any of the daughter isotopes from these substances. If you have the history of the wood (did you cut it yourself) you will be able to clearly see the contamination for the area and may even be able to know where and when it originated.


The count is high but without knowing what is causing it you really don't know if you have a problem. Some of these counts are undoubtedly natural potassium and concentrated fallout from bomb testing / old accidents and such.

YOU DON'T want to be breathing or swallowing these ashes or any dust from your air filters period!



For a start I'd try to contact someone like Tom over at http://anti-proton.com


https://www.youtube.com/user/antiprotons/discussion


https://www.youtube.com/user/antiprotons


Maybe he will be willing to test a small sample for you and tell us all what is causing these reads...

...at the very least if you watch his videos on Gama Spec. you will gain a better understanding of this process.



And don't play around with ashes, vacuum bags, air filters, water filters or anything you even suspect to be contaminated without using proper safety precautions.


Let me know what happens...


Stay safe, don't panic, eyes open...

Had a moment and thought I would show you a video of a "actual" read from moisture... How about rain water as this would be the way it got into the ashes in the first place !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFdb5ouH-vY

The EPA burns their filter samples and tests the ash too.

I had another warm day here on the Oregon coast, so let my fire in wood burner go out. This afternoon I put my Inspector inside, and held it close to the ashes, wow, it climbed to 394 cpm ! From 30 to 50 aprox. background cpm . This is or should be a real wake up call to people burning wood for heat .

USE A ABUNDANCE of caution when handling these ashes until you know what is causing these reads....

...A P100 mask is a must when handling these ashes and should also be worn when cutting grass / wood, using a leaf blower or any activity that creates a dusty situation.

Anything dangerous in the smoke emitted from the stack will settle around your outdoor environment in concentrated form.


Here's one for around $25, these are the same filters used by many professional nuclear cleanup personnel and is the exact same one I use for dusty household tasks...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Lead-Pain ... /202080148

Notice it is shown for Lead. This is what you are looking for as most all fallout metals are "heavy metals" like common lead only heavier. It is said that "one (1) gram of plutonium contains more atoms than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world". Now that's a heavy metal!

These filters do not require any maintenance and will not release any materials when "full". It will simply become hard to breath through alerting you to change the filters.


Although 1 set should cover you quite some time for occasional home use,

I also found a brick of 20 replacement filters online for a very good price.



A VERY inexpensive health insurance plan!!!



Spread the word on these (P100) filter masks as they are a MUST nowadays.

Nothing less than P100 rated filters will filter sufficiently enough to make a difference in exposure.

==============



Have you found anyone to test these ashes using Gama Spec.?


This could tell us if there is any fresh fallout occurring or if it is from things past. This testing may also identify the original source if performed quickly.




Stay safe and let me know if I can help.

Very glad to know exactly what filter mask works, so a big Thanks EB7 . This concentrated radiation in my living room from burning wood has taken me buy surprise and I"ll do whatever necessary to pursue the ID of these Isotopes. Have not made arrangements yet. I appreciate all you can give to me on this . Will be posting more as significant CPM"s are discovered, at the beaches also.

I would start at the major universities in your region.

Also try to contact http://fairewinds.org and send them your story.

I would expect you have already contacted the government agencies involved with this kind of testing but they have strict rules about the sources they test.
If you let them know where the wood originated maybe they will take samples and test.


A independent lab can do it, however, it will be expensive to go this route.

You can also try to find the gear to test it yourself. Lot's of learning curve here and you always risk getting inaccurate results.

If you have a youtube account you may wish to post your story in the discussions for videos on this topic. Many times someone will jump into the conversation with good contacts and advise you what to do or who to contact.

Here's a channel with a ton of information on this kind of testing...

https://www.youtube.com/user/antiprotons



Good luck and let me know what you find out...

Hey Islander...

Haven't heard from you in a while.


What about the testing on the ashes...

...Let us know!

I left home 2 months ago, went to South Lake Tahoe, and found approx. 200 to 300 cpm at sides of roads where the mostly rain water had collected into shallow pools to concentrate radiation - not happy as I have family there. Then went to Phoenix , AZ. and on the day of Superbowl went to a location only maybe 2 miles from Palo Verde NP to watch the game. I was surprised to see a large cloud, mostly white, and perhaps 300 feet wide rising perhaps 500 or more feet straight up with a larger expansion at the top. I thought , what a large blast of steam, but is that normal ? EB7 what do you think on that, or anybody else. Just unloaded carefully my second cleaning of ash from the wood burner, and got the same high read on the Inspector GC .