Radioactive gold rings still causing cancer

[Emily]

Some gold is naturally radioactive from the geology where it was mined. This 'should be' found during assays. Some is radioactive due to medical waste contamination, or even from processing of nuclear waste.

https://www.practicalradonc.org/article/S1879-8500(21)00345-3/fulltext#bib0001

The Gold Ring

• Beatrice M. Young
• Varun Kumar Chowdhry, MD

Published December 19, 2021 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2021.12.004

A wedding ring is a symbol of love, new-beginnings, and hope for the future. Unfortunately, late effects of radiation due to radon gas contamination in gold wedding rings have resulted in acute and late radiation toxicity.[SUP]1[/SUP]
[SUP]2[/SUP]
Despite the suffering caused by this token of immutable love, this story carries a strong undercurrent of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. I find valubable lessons of the importance of humility, compassion, and understanding in the doctor-patient relationship. I reflect on her story as an inspiration to help me tackle the challenges and setbacks that come along the journey of life, and use its powerful message to enthuse and encourge others. The remainder of the story is the voice of the first author. I am truly honored to faciliate sharing this story with the Radiation-Oncology community for its historical and humanistic importance. —V.K.C.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...-market/eb2a40e4-4139-4ab4-9423-dfa6d8a10ec8/

Radioactive Gold: Did It Go to Market?
By Jo Warrick

August 14, 1999
It was one of the most secretive missions at a factory that was all about secrecy: Nuclear warheads, retired from service and destined for the junkyard, were trucked at night to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to be dismantled, hacked into unrecognizable pieces and buried.
Workers used hammers and acetylene torches to strip away bits of gold and other metals from the warheads' corrosion-proof plating and circuitry. Useless parts were dumped into trenches. But the gold -- some of it still radioactive -- was tossed into a smelter and molded into shiny ingots.
Exactly what happened next is one of the most intriguing questions to arise from a workers' lawsuit against the former operators of the U.S.-owned uranium plant in western Kentucky. Three employees contend that the plant failed for years to properly screen gold and other metals for radioactivity. Some metals, they say, may have been highly radioactive when they left Paducah, bound perhaps for private markets...

Radiation keratosis associated with exposure to a gold ring.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Due to Radioactive Ring

Cancer caused by radioactive gold rings.

Health effects associated with exposure to radioactively contaminated gold rings