To permit a quantitative analysis of the radiation exposures associated with reading glossy magazines, I collected a variety of them (e.g., Time, Cosmopolitan, TV Guide, etc.) and cut them up into strips so that they would fill a half-liter Marinelli beaker. The various magazines weighed anywhere from 125 to 500 grams each.

Since kaolin contains elevated levels of the uranium and thorium decay series, glossy magazines have a higher radioactive content than ordinary paper. The activity of such magazines is not high enough to be detected with a simple survey meter, but it is possible that a truck with a load of magazines could trip a radiation monitor.

The analysis was performed with a high-purity germanium detector over a four hour period and a background spectrum was subtracted out. The analyses indicated that the various members of the uranium series were present in concentrations of 0.15 to 0.35 picocuries per gram of magazine (pCi/g). The members of the thorium series were present at concentrations of 0.3 to 0.6 pCi/g. Based on these measurements, I calculated that someone reading a 400 gram magazine would receive an exposure of approximately 1.5 x 10 -3 microrem per hour (urem/hr).