Public warned against ‘radioactive bracelets'

Bracelets of EQ type worn for “improving balance” found to have high amount of uranium concentrations.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
EQ bracelets 311 (photo credit: eq-love.com)
EQ bracelets 311
(photo credit: eq-love.com)
As a cautionary measure, the Health Ministry and the Environmental Protection Ministry issued a public warning on Monday not to wear bracelets that release radioactivity.
The bracelets do not issue significant amounts of radiation, the ministries said, and there is no significant danger, “but at the same time, we recommend not to wear them.”
The bracelets are of the EQ type, worn for “improving balance.” They are made from the radioactive material thorium 232 with a higher concentration than permitted. After the bracelets were examined in radiological and analytic labs using a various of techniques, it was found that the amount of uranium concentrations produced by the thorium were higher than that permitted according to international standards. The radiation is emitted by the rubber that covers the bracelet and not from the metal itself.
Thorium is an abundant natural radioactive chemical element with the atomic number 90 and the symbol “Th”; it was discovered in 1828 and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. In nature, thorium is found solely as thorium-232, which decays by releasing an alpha particle and has a halflife of about 14 billion years.
It is estimated to be about three times more abundant than uranium in the Earth’s crust and is a by-product of the extraction of rare earths from monazite sands. Thorium was formerly used commonly as an alloying material and the light source in gas mantles, among other things, but these uses have become uncommon due to concern over its radioactivity. The molten-salt reactor experiment conducted in the US in the 1960s used thorium-232 to breed uranium-233.
According to a Hebrew website that markets the bracelets, they are used by “extreme” sportsmen to cope with “negative energy fields.” They are sold with claims that they have “negative ions” and include holograms.
They are sold in sports shops in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand as well as Israel, including shop locations in Kfar Hess, Jerusalem and Gush Etzion.
The ministries said that one should be exposed to radiation only for medical procedures that are clearly justified and that wearing a bracelet does not meet this criterion.
Therefore, users should stop wearing the bracelets immediately and stores should stop selling them “until there is proof that they do not contain radioactive contamination.”