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Letters to the editor
Childhood cancer in schools with a radioactive lightning rod
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Editor,—Radioactive lightening rods (RLRs) replaced conventional rods in schools built in Majorca between 1975 and 1989. RLRs in Spain usually have a bolster containing 100 mg Americium 241.1 This isotope is an alpha emitter; its half life is 432 years. The total alpha activity on the rod is around 1.3 × 1010 Bq.
Ingestion or inhalation of radioactive particles might arise in the event of storms damaging a …