It’s always a bummer when someone realizes that a habit they’ve been doing for years turns out to be unhealthy or worse, harmful. One Illinois woman examining her dishware came to such a realization when she discovered that her favorite sandwich plate was uranium glass. “I’ve been using these for a couple years,” she groans, explaining that her mom gave them to her while cleaning out her cupboard. Even for the unaware, just the name of the plates’ material itself is cause for concern, which is why the woman posted her predicament on r/Wellthatsucks.
Truly, it does “suck” to find out that the dishware you’ve been eating on might be potentially dangerous, but it might not be as risky as OP had thought. For those who don’t know, uranium glass is indeed “radioactive,” but the level is so minuscule that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission claims household electronics probably produce more radiation than the material. On the flip side, the glass can be dangerous if it’s ingested or inhaled, according to Taste of Home: “For that reason, it’s safest not to eat off or drink out of uranium glass.”
But if the Illinois woman had been using the uranium glass plates for years without any of them breaking or chipping, then she should be fine. Still, it would be safer if she used other dishware for her lunch. She responds to a top comment in her post with, “I know its harmless roughly, but good practice would be to put it it away for display instead just for good measure.” She continues, explaining that that’s the reason why she posted to r/Wellthatsucks, as she can’t enjoy using them to eat anymore since she’ll always imagine food “becoming radioactive no matter how irrational that is.”
In the end, OP will probably never suffer any negative effects from her years using her uranium glass plates. But she’ll probably never be able to shake off the thought of growing an unnatural limb or turning green if she does eat on them again. That said, it’s probably better for her mental health to enjoy lunch on other dishware that isn’t for decoration.
