The problem with # 2 is that , according to the Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity , 198 Au has a half-life of 2.7 days , decaying into mercury . The short half-life means that less than 0.1 % of it will remain after two weeks and essentially zero after a month . So , it is extremely unlikely that 198 Au is the culprit . It would probably not be radioactive for long enough .
A more plausible explanation is that within the seed , the radon broke down into other radioactive elements with longer half-lives , Lead-210 ( 22 years ), Bismuth-210 ( 5 days ), and Polonium-210 ( 138 days ). These new elements , all solids with high boiling points ( see Note 2 ), " hung around ," ( except for the bismuth - too short a half-life ) becoming long-lasting radioactive contaminants in the gold that caused the cancers . That ' s my story and I ' m sticking by it . Until someone comes up with something better . ( 3 )
Was this a big deal ?
It certainly was a big deal to those who lost fingers , but otherwise , not so much . As I mentioned earlier , only 177 of 160,000 items tested ( 0.1 %) were radioactive , A 1984 study reported that of 135 people who had been exposed to radioactive gold during the 1930s and 40s , 41 developed " mild to severe skin problems " and nine developed squamous cell carcinomas . Hardly a public health crisis , just an odd affliction that caught up to people a quarter of a century after they took their vows .
Speaking of vows , in 1984 Baptese and colleagues wrote :
" The incidence of skin cancer on the ring finger was eleven times that expected for men and forty-five times that expected for women ."
Baptese , et . al , J Am Acad Dermatol . 1984 Jun ; 10 ( 6 ): 1019-23 . doi : 10.1016 / s0190-9622 ( 84 ) 80327-8 .
What the hell is going on here ?? Why were women four times more likely than men to have dermatological issues from the rings ? Is it possible that women kept their rings on , while men , being obligate pigs , frequently removed theirs to pursue extramarital delights ? Nah , that ' s stupid , but just in case ...
Men , keep those wedding rings on ! Radioactivity notwithstanding , it ' s safer that way .
Ringless and busted . Free image : Corel Painter , PxHere NOTES ( 1 ) You and I both know that it is not a finger that would be cut off . Nuff siad .
( 2 ) The boiling points of lead ( 3,180 o F ), bismuth ( 2,940 o F ), and polonium ( 1,746 o F ) would ensure that , unlike radon , these elements would stick around , even at the temperature of molten gold .
( 3 ) Someone who does know what he ' s talking about is Andrew Karam , Ph . D ., who wrote about radon ( and radiation in general ) for ACSH in 2021 . See What ' s The Story With Radon ? Really good article .
Source : https :// www . acsh . org / news / 2022 / 10 / 14 / case-killer-wedding-rings-16606