
Vaseline glass is a subset of Uranium glass that has uranium in it, but that is only yellow in color. This was used in a range of glass ornaments, vases and table ware commonly known as Vaseline glass due to its similarity in appearance to Vaseline petroleum.

Uranium Green Glass Vanity Set Sold for 339.
#Radium glass vs uranium glass how to
If you’re a collector or interested in starting a collection of Uranium glass, it can be hard to know how to start your search, especially when there are so many beautiful glass pieces out there. The United States Nuclear Regulation Commission has determined that the radiation from uranium glass is negligible, being no more harmful to people than the average background radiation we experience from day to day. In reference to Uranium glass’ radioactivity, it should be noted that, while pieces from the late-19th and early-20th centuries were comprised of 2-25% uranium, the level of radioactivity is still negligible in the long run people are exposed to radioactive materials every day and, while we wouldn’t recommend eating or drinking from them, these pieces weren’t actually considered harmful.įrom: Darlene Duplessis: “Vaseline glass salt and pepper shakers.” Collecting While you may be able to recognize some pieces just by looking at them, it takes a UV black light to officially see whether or not the glass flouresces due to the presence of uranium keep in mind, the glass glows green only because of the uranium, not because it’s radioactive. The two terms vaseline and uranium are often used to describe the same type of glass, but to be clear, while most vaseline glass has uranium content, there. Tinged varying shades of yellow, Vaseline glass can have an oily sheen to it, and is generally, although not always, translucent. Uranium glass is characterized by the presence of uranium (oxide) and, in some cases, iron oxide, which is what makes it green. Radium Girls: The dark times of luminous watches.Ī history lesson I thought was worth a few minutes.From: Raun Lynott: “Part of my “Green Glass” collection which is all Vaseline glass that glows under Blacklight. Other glass pieces may turn green under a black light, but they will not. 2 Using a black light is the only sure way to identify vaseline glass. Shine your UV light on the glass piece and look for a neon green glowing color. Use a blacklight to identify the uranium in vaseline glass. If you are sick of reading about the differences in "String-Through vs Top Loading" like I am, you might want to read about the girls that glow in the dark. Shine a UV light on it to look for a bright green color. In the process I connected with another military collector who drove over three hours to buy some additional military artifacts from me for $100.00.īut the most value I got was learning my research lead me to educate myself about "The Radium Girls" and the history of Radium and its consequences. One guy drove two or more hours round trip to give me my asking price of $15.00 and tipped me $5 more for my gas to meet up with him. I was about to take these gauges to the landfill after I realized that taking them apart was going to be a chore.Īs a last resort I posted the lot on CraigsLisp to see if anyone was interested and in fact got a couple of responses. I looked the address up and learned it no longer was a business but a Government designated Industrial Waste site and Off-Limit s. I researched the gauges and tracked them to a location in Wichita Kansas that had a sticker affixed to the housing. When thorium is breathed in the workplace then it increases the chances of development of the lung diseases, it can also cause pancreases and lung cancer af- ter several years of exposure. Some time back a friend gave me five aluminum gauge clusters from some prop driven aircraft (Cessna and Beach Craft) that we thought might be of some value if for nothing more than the Aluminum housings to be recycled. The people working in the mining sites, milling or thorium laboratories are at a very high risk.
