Fri 26 Jan 2007
Had an email from Dave England asking: What do you do with smoke alarms that have low-level radiation sources in them?
He went on to explain that he’d heard that they should be replaced every ten years and his smoke alarms are now at least ten years old so he wants to know what he should do with them.
Ours are pretty new so we’ve not had this issue yet - but has anyone else come up against it?
According to Wikipedia, we’re looking at “a tiny mass of radioactive americium-241″ in smoke detectors that use ionization and while Americium is widely used, like other similar elements (Actinides), it can have an impact on the environment - but there are few guidelines for disposing of old smoke alarms.
So, does anyone know if (and how) can they be safely recycled? Or are there are any safe reuses?
(Photo by cancsajn)
Solomon Broad
January 27th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Call your local authority.
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Solomon Broad
January 29th, 2007 at 7:12 am
More info here - http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Household+waste+guide+-+the+lounge?opendocument#4
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kelly
January 29th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
funny you should ask, because I just came across this problem myself. i did a websearch and found that first alert has an address to which you can mail theirs (that’s what mine was). another company that I can’t recall does the same sort of thing. you just have to make sure to mail it ground so that it doesn’t end up on a plane. cost me about $4 I think.
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kelly
January 29th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
here’s where I found that info.
http://www.obviously.com/recycle/guides/hard.html
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steve doe
January 7th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
u r all a bunch of idiots
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lyn
March 9th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I just found this site and think its great that people come up with so many great ideas to help reuse and recycle. We all need to help look after the world. I have lots of old smoke detectors sitting around and new ones that were installed by an electrician that do not have a silence button on them- not a good idea.
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