'Medical cards' turn out to be very dangerous
In Thailand, so-called medicinal cards are sold that can cure all ailments and diseases. But alas, if it's too good to be true, it is. The so-called 'cure-all' card also turns out to be dangerous because it is extremely radioactive.
Especially in Khon Kaen, the Indonesian power card is sold for 1.500 baht each. Do you have back pain put a card on your back and the pain disappears, the same applies to headaches and other complaints. Nonsense of course. But it's even worse. The cards turn out to be extremely radioactive. The Office for Atoms of Peace (OAP) has measured radiation levels 350 times the safe limit for annual exposure on some maps. One card even measured the extreme value of 40 microsieverts per hour.
The card contains a combination of uranium and thorium, two substances that can be extremely harmful to health. The cards contain no information about the medical properties, only Kartu Sakti, which means magic card in Indonesian.
The company that supplies the cards is based in Hat Yai (Songkhla). The cards may be sold through a pyramid scheme. MP for Palang Pracharath in Songkhla has asked the DSI to investigate.
Source: Bangkok Post
How dangerous, just count on a felt pad. You certainly shouldn't walk around with it for weeks, but a few days of constant exposure is still doable.
People are exposed to an average of 10 microSieverts (10 μSv) per day. The extreme measurement for the cards was 40 microSieverts per hour. That's the same radiation as a flight from New York to Los Angeles. People may be exposed to a maximum of 50.000 μSv per year. From 100.000 μSv the risk of cancer probably increases.
There are 8760 hours in 1 year. If you wear the card of 40 microSieverts per hour on your body for a whole year (who does that?), you are exposed to 350.400. So that's wrong.
How long can you safely carry such a card? 50.000 – (10*365 days = 87600 μSv p/y) = 46350 μSv we have available for traveling, wearing such a ticket, etc. 46350/40 = 1158,75 hours or 48,25 days.
1 sievert = 1000 millisieverts
1 millisievert = 1000 microsieverts
https://www.pureearth.org/blog/radiation-101-what-is-it-how-much-is-dangerous-and-how-does-fukushima-compare-to-chernobyl/
Dear Rob, can you also tell us where that uranium and thorium come from? Is there anyone with a uranium mine in Indonesia who sees a gold mine in making maps radioactive. Or how do people come up with the idea of processing these substances and then distributing them. I heard that Iran wants to process the discarded cards for a local charity.
It is probably more dangerous than you think, because the radiation source is often in the same place.
If the card is in your wallet, then that radiation source will always be in the same pocket.