I was rousted at the train station today for being radioactive.

[trackfan]

My wife and I were switching trains at Union Station, Los Angeles this evening, and a guy in camouflage comes up next to me, and starts mumbling something about radiation. I don't make eye contact, as I figure it's just a crazy person or a panhandler, and I answer "no" to whatever he's asking without really understanding what he's saying. He persists, and soon I start to understand that he's asking me if I've had radiation treatment today. Then, I understand - I had had a PET CT in the morning, and this was some kind of security guy who detected me with his geiger counter (or whatever it is). I now see that there are two guys, and they're kind of surrounding me. I tell him that I did have a PET CT this morning and he seems not be surprised by that. I see now that they are from the LA County Sheriff department, which handles security on the metro trains. On the one hand, it's good to know there is some policing on the trains; but I started to wonder if they routinely check for radioactivity, or if they were on the lookout for it because of some kind of threat that they had intelligence of.

[JDPriestly]

1. I saw them there a few days ago.. They come and go.

When I was there, they had a dog. They aren't always there as far as I can tell, but their visits are not infrequent. It is probably nothing to worry about. They just walk around. Sometimes I smile and say hello. Not to worry.

[PoliticAverse]

2. They likely have detectors installed at the station. n/t

[jberryhill]

3. Moral of the story...

If you are smuggling radioactive materials, tell them you had a PET CT scan that morning.

[nilram]

4. L. O. L.

[Jamastiene]

7. You just found the weakness in our trillion dollar, war on terror inspired,

super paranoid national security. Who knew it would be that easy?

[Eleanors38]

13. ...or a plate of enchiladas.

[LeftOfWest]

5. My neighbor was detained at the US Canada border coming back to US

for being radioactive.

He had had his thyroid gland nuked a few weeks earlier.

[murielm99]

8. When I had my thyroid nuked,

I was supposed to keep the cat off my lap. She didn't listen.

[freshwest]

9. Better check and see if she developed an opposable thumb. It's their master plan:

Now we'll know who's to blame!

[murielm99]

10. I wish she was still here,

developing thumbs. She crossed the bridge about two years ago. She was about sixteen years old.

[freshwest]

11. Sorry about that. How I'd love to have a kitty again. Can't afford any pets now. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. I bet the guy who farted was relieved they weren't after him.

[stevenleser]

12. The other side of this is, it's interesting how these treatments make you radioactive enough to be

detected.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Had a similar thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago...

I'm sitting in my vehicle, on the dock, waiting for a ferry. A sherrif's deputy with a dog comes up and starts sniffing at all of the cars waiting in line, four lanes wide and maybe 20 rows deep. Did not think much of it, until I notice he's standing by my window, rolled down for the heat, but a little behind me, obviously in one of those 'keep an eye on you' positions.

He starts asking me if I was a hunter, or if I have guns or ammo in the car, because, and I quote, "his dog was really interested in my vehicle." Well, I don't carry weapons or ammo, because I own none, so I tell him that. I mention I'd bought the car used just a couple of months ago and maybe the prior owner was a sportsman. We chatted a bit more, and I guess he was satisfied that I wasn't lying to him.

He went on his way. Interesting, but not seriously threatening.

[Kingofalldems]

15. I have had security surround my car at the county dump.

Happened twice, right after a nuclear stress test.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. interesting. had no idea they were doing that

[GoneOffShore]

17. Security theatre BS.

Just nonsense to keep us all afraid..

[freshwest]

18. Learn something new daily at DU. No idea a person was carrying radiation after tests like these.

I've had thyroid nuking, dentist x-rays, spinal and head scans, even one for a vein that took about an hour. Not one warned of residual radiation.

Better check every place out for radiation, so that was a good thing there in the OP by security. A 'dirty bomb' comes to mind and is reportedly wanted by those who can't afford to create a thermonuclear device. But bombing a nuclear power plant or any source of radioactive material is also something low-tech that they would use. They don't care about half life or environmental or human costs from such destruction.

(It's the half life of nuclear waste that mattered to me and others resisting the building of nuclear power plants. Because when a substance is created that is dangerous for longer than most nation states have ever existed, even in the short terms, it would create a less democratic world. The necessary level of security would entail the enforcement of a police state. For a good reason, but in the end, it still would not be able to do enough. And the folly would last longer than our civilization. It is the reason for the WC and radiological treaties; they threaten future innocent generations and life sustaining ecosystems.)

There are radon detectors for homes to detect gases under the land of homes that harm families over the long term. Radiation is released from mining for uranium, nuke depots, plants, etc. They are said to have a short half life or not the kind of radiation that penetrates things well enough to be dangerous. It is troubling, although perhaps not to a scientist, who can rate dangers in radioactive material better.

Now a Canadian mining company is going to mine for uranium in the Grand Canyon that might pollute the underwater aquifers. As reported on DU. We would like to think that the best science is going to be observed by the companies involved to protect the environment. The record does not reflect that, it shows that they count on taking the money and running off when things go wrong.

There's always a natural dose of 'background radiation,' IIRC. Some have mentioned granite counter tops in homes are a source of radiation. And most igneous rocks and many plants contain some radiation naturally.

And thanks for posting this thought provoking OP.

[trackfan]

19. I knew there would be some residual radiation, as they said to avoid contact with pregnant women

for 6 hours after the test. But this was several hours outside of that window, and apparently I was still glowing enough to be detected.

[csziggy]

20. Many aquifers have uranium in them - release triggered by nitrates

Nitrate Pollution May Trigger Uranium Release Into Groundwater
Environment: Common fertilizer ingredient is correlated with dissolved uranium in groundwater in two major U.S. aquifers
Web Date: August 14, 2015
By Deirdre Lockwood

URANIUM UNDERGROUND
Concentrations of nitrate (blue) and uranium (red) were correlated in two major U.S. aquifers used for drinking water and irrigation, suggesting that nitrate pollution puts aquifers at risk for uranium contamination.
Credit: Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett

Uranium contaminates aquifers in many parts of the world, posing a threat to drinking water sources for millions of people in nearby communities. Found naturally in rocks including granites and shales, uranium can dissolve when exposed to oxygen or other oxidants in groundwater. Now researchers show that nitrate, an oxidant that commonly invades groundwater through fertilizer use, may promote uranium release in two major U.S. aquifers (Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2015, DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00174).

Several years ago, Karrie A. Weber of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, heard reports that some rural Nebraskans had to find drinking water alternatives when their wells showed uranium contamination. Uranium can cause kidney damage and increase risk for cancer, so the Environmental Protection Agency sets limits on its levels in drinking water. Weber and her colleagues study how nitrate mobilizes uranium in groundwater, a phenomenon that had been observed at sites contaminated with nuclear waste and in the lab. She thought nitrate was probably influencing these natural systems, too. “The question became, how widespread was this?” Weber says.

To answer it, she and graduate student Jason Nolan examined existing geochemical data on two major U.S. aquifers used for drinking water and irrigation: the High Plains aquifer, which underlies eight western states including Nebraska, and California’s Central Valley aquifer. Using a range of sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System, they assembled a database of water quality information from more than 270,000 groundwater samples collected from nearly 62,000 locations in the aquifers. Because data on uranium are scarcer than those on nitrate, the scientists interpolated the available uranium data to fill in the gaps.

Analyzing the database, the team found that uranium concentrations exceeded the EPA’s maximum level of 30 ?g/L in 10% of the wells they considered, and nitrate exceeded EPA’s maximum of 10 mg/L in 21% of the wells. Some 2 million people live within a kilometer of groundwater exceeding the uranium limit.

More: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/web/2015/08/Nitrate-Pollution-Trigger-Uranium-Release.html