Letters Sent to Dr. Herman Schlundt, November 19, 1931

November 19th, 1931. Dr. Herman Schlundt, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. Dear Dr. Schlundt: You have doubtless read the prese notice with reference to the radium "highbell" Dr. Luther S. H. Gable of the Detroit Institute of Technology has been drinking, and claiming benefits therefrom. This article by Dr. Gable has elicited considerable comment by the presa, and various people interested in this subject, among whom are Drs. Bartland, Flinn, Fialla, etc. The general impression among these men seems to be to the effect that the drinking of water charred with radon over a prolonged period of time may be deleterious due to the accumulation of active deposit of slow change in the system. They believe where small quantities of radon are contained in the water that such storage may not prove harmfull, but they do state that where large quantities, without specify- ing the amount, are consumed over prolonged periods of time there is a possibility of latent hazard. As I reflect upon this metter such a position seems rather far fetched, and I am herewith presenting some of my deductions with the hope that you will look them over and point out to me wherein I an wrong, unlese you are in accord. We must first of all assume that in a native uranium ore where all the various disintegration products of uranium are in equilibrium, that the number of alpha particles emitted from the amount of radium F (Polon- ium) would be 3.57 x 10-10. On the other hand the amount of redium F which would be in equilibrium with one gram of radium would be approxinately 0.26 milligrams. However, in order to reach the greatest possible activity of radium F we would have to collect the active deposit from radium for a period of over 100 years. Where the radon is removed from its source,radium, and used to charge water, this of course, is entirely impractical, and when such radon is introduced into the aystem only part of it likes and decays there, and the rest is eliminated - therefore, the amount of alpha radiation arising from the deposition of the active deposit of slow change mist be extremely small. I have been trying to figure out sone method whereby we might arrive at a simple calculation, although largely hypothesical it night give us some basis for estimating the possible number of alpha rays which would be emitted from the active deposit which could possibly renain in the