And there used to be radioactive thorium used in the making of lanterns. One company that manufactured the lamps in the early 1900's would just dump the leftover thorium into the ground in downtown Chicago.
Now any time a skyscraper is built in downtown Chicago, the soil has to be tested and often remediated.
Examples:
https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2012/11/06/radioactive-d...
https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2017/07/24/downtown-chic...
https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2015/10/27/building-with...
As well as the lead-free pipes in the U.S., which contain up to 8% lead.
> In 2011 Congress passed the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (RLDWA) revising the definition of lead free by lowering the maximum lead content of the wetted surfaces of plumbing products (such as pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings and fixtures) from 8% to a weighted average of 0.25% [https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregulations/use-lead-free-pip...]
I remember as a kid wondering how that mantle - which looked like cloth - could glow without disintegrating. Worse yet - break one of those mantles, then breathe in a particle ...
EDIT: Looks like Coleman switched to Yttrium...
As opposed to some other countries where they have whole villages dedicated to recycling car batteries by hand[1] and still use leaded glaze on their food dishes[2].
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/25/backyard...
Maybe it's better to aspire for a higher bar to clear.
https://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/wwii-military-watches-pot...
I remember reading this was not an issue because the minerals in the water binds with the pipes and create a coating inside the pipe, so any water running through it doesn't come in contact with the actual lead pipe. Does anyone know anything more about that?
[1] https://www3.epa.gov/radtown/americium-smoke-detectors.html