Way before its radioactive properties were discovered and exploited for both good ( thinknuclear ability ) and bad ( thinknuclear state of war ) , room before it formally was granted its place among the elements of theperiodic table , the rarified alloy uranium was used by ancient Romans to color glass .
Back in 79 C.E. or so , radioactivity — or U — meant nothing to the Romans . To anyone . The concept , the reality , simply did n’t exist . Neither didUranus , the planet for which uranium is key out , for that thing .
But those small radiate spyglass tiles in thatmosaic in that tricked - out Roman Francisco Villa ? Now those were endocarp - cold cool .
Wait … Uranium in Glass?
Yes , the Romans used uranium in their crank , and advanced interpretation of the stuff still exists . It goes by a few dissimilar name and is even still being produced in some quantities in Europe . But it ’s more of a curio now than anything , found in the form of pitcher and bowl and other glassware inflea mart , dusty attics , museums and among glass collector , all reminders that at one time it was something desirable .
" It is kind of attractive because it has that iridescent glow to it under certain inflammation conditions . It really looks kind of particular , " says Paul Frame , a retired health physicist at Tennessee’sOak Ridge Associated Universities , a consortium of schools founded after World War II as the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies . For years , Frame was also the curator at ORAU ’s Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum , also know as theMuseum of Radiation and Radioactivity , which chronicles " the scientific and commercial-grade history of radioactivity and radiation . " The collection is locate inOak Ridge , Tennessee .
" There are many different types of collectors that would be concerned in this variety of item , " Frame says of the glass . " There are some hoi polloi out there that are particularly interested in it because it ’s radioactive . And there are other people who just collect glassware ; the styles and so onward .
But there ’s so much of this goddamn stuff out there that , despite the fact that there ’s a miscellanea of people that are interested in it , it really does n’t have a lot of note value unless it ’s a particularly unique bit of glassware … size , design , artistry , that kind of thing . "
Uranium methamphetamine — also know as Vaseline drinking glass because of the Vaseline - type vividness that many glass piece emit under certain lighting condition ( usually grim light or ultraviolet luminousness ) — certainly has its die - hard fan . Some collector and aficionados of the stuff will conglomerate in Pittsburgh in October 2021 , for the22nd annual Vaseline Glass Collector , Inc. pattern . VGCI is a non - profit that hasmore than 6,000 following on Facebook .
In improver , places like theHawley Antique Exchangein Hawley , Pennsylvania , boast orotund collections of theglowing , sometimes eerie - looking glass .
Is Uranium Glass … Radioactive?
In a word , yes : Uranium glass — Vaseline glass , sometimes called depression field glass — is indeed radioactive .
That said , there ’s no need to play for the hills or the late bomb tax shelter .
" It ’s absolutely true , " Frame says . " What we ’re dealing with , with Vaseline methamphetamine , is something that is radioactive — just like everything else . And it is more radioactive than the majority of things , in that you’re able to detect the radioactivity of Vaseline , or uranium glass , with a handheld meter [ like aGeiger counter ] . "
But is the radiation from U glass substantial enough to , say , morph someone into abig , unripe , angry cat , or apart - kid , part - arachnoid ? Or , even stiff enough to kill ?
bod offer up up a prompt history moral .
" Marie Curie got these ore residues from the Czech Republic back in the day , and she extracted the U but let out what was leave alone behind was even more radioactive than the uranium itself . The stuff that made the residues most radioactive turned out to be radium , not the atomic number 92 , " he tell . " So in uranium ore , you have this whole host of radioactive hooey , and the primal thespian there is really radium . Radium 226 . The atomic number 92 itself is not all that radioactive . "
Still , Frame will admit , there may be some small , minute peril involved with U glass , even though uranium is nowhere close to being as radioactive as , say , radium , another atomic number 92 spin-off .
" It ’s fundamentally a theoretical hazard . The radioactive exposures you get from flying in an airplane , or breathe in air in your home , which has radon in it , they ’re so much keen than any dose that anyone ’s croak to get from atomic number 92 or Vaseline glass , " Frame says . " There is , for all pragmatic purposes , no hazard . Zero endangerment . "
Which , for accumulator and admirers , is good news program . Because glass that glow is just pretty cool .
