ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TRASH

Collectors of old radium dial glow-in-the-dark watches may be at risk because the once-popular devices might still pose a health hazard. For years radium was used as a base in paint on the dials so that numbers and dots would glow in the dark. Eventually, the use of radium was banned.

Now the watches are showing up in the collections of modern-day hobbyists. The problem is that the radium danger has not diminished fully with the passage of time. A debate continues as to what exposure to old watches can mean.

Much of the concern is outlined in a government report on a factory that once produced the majority of radium dial watch faces.