Machine emitting x-rays

[sjpsqd]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA
Without going in to this too much, yes, I measured it with my Geiger counter, 1400 CPM, I will measure it in Sv/min soon, but inside of a metal box.
The machine is used in very close contact with humans and no it's not supposed to make X-rays, but it looked like Rontgen's Crookes tube
so I tested it. Highly dangerous! No mention of this output in the "directions", but I just happened to have a G-M counter!
I've been exposed. Is there a case? What about the thousands of unknowing customers of this product?

 

[CdwJava]

And what exactly is this "product" you speak of?

 

[justalayman]

First, common sense says, reporting this to somebody in a supervisory capacity immediately would be the proper thing to do.

Given you have some knowledge of it being dangerous, any use of the machine, especially simply to take measurements, could damage any possible suit you might have. A person that knowingly jumps off a building to commit suicide simply to show there is a missing railing is an idiot and it is often ruled they are liable for their own injuries hence no court award likely.

 

[Dave1952]

Ok, lets go over this slow. 1400 cpm is a pretty high reading. So turn the machine off. I'm going to assume that you've got the proper filters in place to measure x-rays and your G-M has been calibrated. If your business has a Safety Office you should notify them. If not then discuss the problem with your supervisor. What's the background radiation where you are?
You have one possibly defective device but you don't know if your problem is unique or common. Can you make your measurement again and measure the emissions from other copies of the device?
Many devices emit radiation, so check the user manual. It may claim that the device emits less radiation than the allowed legal limit. Even so, 1400 cpm is worth investigating further.

 

[sjpsqd]

Well yes but

First, common sense says, reporting this to somebody in a supervisory capacity immediately would be the proper thing to do.

Given you have some knowledge of it being dangerous, any use of the machine, especially simply to take measurements, could damage any possible suit you might have. A person that knowingly jumps off a building to commit suicide simply to show there is a missing railing is an idiot and it is often ruled they are liable for their own injuries hence no court award likely.

First, I did report it to CPSC, waiting on that...I don't want to be held liable for knocking a product by publishing on the net, I don't know how to go about this.
Second, I only used intuition to bother to measure it with a G-M, because it's not supposed to put out any X-rays...not that many people own G-Ms, so maybe that's why it wasn't discovered until now. But frankly when I look at how it was designed it couldn't but put out X-rays (look up a Crooke's tube).
Third, I'm going to put it in a metal box like my big heavy safe with my G-M, and turn on the circuit from about 200 feet away, then turn it off, unplug it, then check the Sv/min peak reading, since it's not a radioisotope and emits zero when not energized, that's the only real way to know the output since again it's not an isotope.
I asked one consumer lawyer in town and he just was kind of "meh, an expert witness will cost bazillions and you contacted CPSC and obviously they don't consider it an issue".

But thanks for any input, I'll carefully do the Sv/min measurement far away and see; if this were an isotope putting out 1400 CPM it would be dangerous, since it's X-rays it may be a different situation. Sieverts per minute is what you need to know for health effects.
For comparison, background radiation around here is about 9 CPM, and after a good high atmosphere Fukushima rain it might spike to 16 CPM.

 

[CdwJava]

So, to clarify, this is not a device at your place of employment, but a consumer electronic that you purchased for your home? I assumed this was something that you purchased for your home which is why I was asking what the nature of the device was. Certainly you can tell us whether it is a TV, microwave oven, computer, or something else without giving away a brand name.

 

[justalayman]

First, I did report it to CPSC, waiting on that...I don't want to be held liable for knocking a product by publishing on the net, I don't know how to go about this.
Second, I only used intuition to bother to measure it with a G-M, because it's not supposed to put out any X-rays...not that many people own G-Ms, so maybe that's why it wasn't discovered until now. But frankly when I look at how it was designed it couldn't but put out X-rays (look up a Crooke's tube).
Third, I'm going to put it in a metal box like my big heavy safe with my G-M, and turn on the circuit from about 200 feet away, then turn it off, unplug it, then check the Sv/min peak reading, since it's not a radioisotope and emits zero when not energized, that's the only real way to know the output since again it's not an isotope.
I asked one consumer lawyer in town and he just was kind of "meh, an expert witness will cost bazillions and you contacted CPSC and obviously they don't consider it an issue".

But thanks for any input, I'll carefully do the Sv/min measurement far away and see; if this were an isotope putting out 1400 CPM it would be dangerous, since it's X-rays it may be a different situation. Sieverts per minute is what you need to know for health effects.
For comparison, background radiation around here is about 9 CPM, and after a good high atmosphere Fukushima rain it might spike to 16 CPM.

It doesn't matter why you guessed it may be an issue or anything else. The fact is you are aware it is an issue so any further experimentation means your injuries are your own fault and due to that, any possible injuries before you discovered the x-Rays will be not determinable.

You would be a fool to turn it on again unless you are trained to test such equipment. Your guessing at how to do it is foolish but hey, maybe your mother or wife (no idea of your home life status) can use a night light. Glow on my friend, glow on.