Ray, appreciate your comments.
I don't wear any special clothing or a respiator. As a Horologist I've read a significant amount of info and data regards radium and tritium dials and hands. The danger is extremely mimimal if at all given the amounts of radium used in the original paint, and tritiums life is 10-12 years at best and has been phased out due to the use other newer and less challenging compounds .
While it is true that the "Radium Girls" who painted dials, hands etc during WWII had a high incidence of cancer, studies show that a significant number of them ingested the active radium as they licked the tips of their brushes to get a finer point (encouraged by management of course) while others painted their teeth, eyelids, fingernails etc to show off the glow in the dark effects too boyfreinds and others. The last radium girl passed away recently at 107 years of age.
I restore a number of WWI and WWII military watches and clocks (aircraft and tank) and always work in a well ventilated area. Years of tracking by NWACC based on the number of watch and clock makers in the association have not shown any significant issues from working on these items. NWACC has printed several articles over the years on this very issue. Of course if you look online there are others who dispute these facts and offer a very different opinion. I guess at age 63, I still enjoy living on the edge

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