----- Original Message -----

From: Joe Herdler

To: geigercounterenthusiasts@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 12:03 AM

Subject: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts] Th + catlitter = possible source?

 

Hi,   As many of you are aware, the cheap clay cat litter (my cats insist upon the compressed sawdust pellets known as Feline Pine) has a small amount of U and Th in it, to the point that in large amounts, it trips radiation detectors at various ports of entry.   Does anyone here know the chemistry of the Th in clay kitty litter? It would be a neat demonstration or even hands on experiment to "process" a few ounces of kitty litter and extract the U and Th, then to count and generate spectrograph of these metals. I doubt that an acid extraction would work (I think that the U and Th are already oxidized, not sure though).   Any thoughts?   Thank you in advance!   Joe   Any thoughts?