NORRISTOWN, Pa., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Four capsules of radium were found in an antique medical kit, after setting off radiation alarms at a waste station in Norristown, Pa., officials said.
Now, state officials are searching for the owner of the kit, to make sure they are not suffering any ill effects from the radioactive material, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
If someone handled the capsules, which are in the form of radium-226, the radiation could burn the skin, said David Allard, director of the Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Radiation Protection, who added that having the box open for an hour gives off the equivalent radiation of 100 CT scans.
Officials estimated the kit is more than 80 years old, when radium was commonly used in medical treatment, Allard said.
The medical kit was traced to a work site at the Hershey's Mill retirement community in West Chester, officials said, but it is unclear how the kit got there.
