Uranium tile

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Uranium tiles have been used in the ceramics industry for many centuries, as uranium oxide makes an excellent ceramic glaze, and is reasonably abundant. In addition to its medical usage, radium was used in the 1920s and 1930s for making watch, clock and aircraft dials. Because it takes approximately three metric tons of uranium to extract 1 gram of radium, prodigious quantities of uranium were mined to sustain this new industry. The uranium ore itself was considered a waste product and taking advantage of this newly abundant resource, the tile and pottery industry had a relatively inexpensive and abundant source of glazing material. Vibrant colors of orange, yellow, red, green, blue, black, mauve, etc. were produced, and some 25% of all houses and apartments constructed^[where?] during that period (circa 1920–1940) used bathroom or kitchen tiles that had been glazed with uranium. These can now be detected by a Geiger counter that detects the beta radiation emitted by uranium's decay chain.

The use of uranium in ceramic glazes ceased during World War II when all uranium was diverted to the Manhattan project and didn't resume until 1959. In 1987, NCRP Report 95 indicated that no manufacturers were using uranium-glaze in dinnerware.^[1]