Hazard of Radium Clock Hands

[Eric H]

Don't strip them, that just spreads it around, you will have a big glob of Radioactive waste. The danger is more in inhaling small bits that flake off or ingesting it somehow.

Most of the people who died from Radium poisoning were the ladies who painted the hands, they licked the brush to get a point, painted their lips and teeth and so on, ignorant of the fact that it was toxic, it gets in the bones and stays there forever.

Normal exposure from a clock radio is probably negligible, still I wouldn't want one closer than several feet away from me while I slept for 8 hours.