Episode 2101
1962 Mexico City radiation accident
Thu, 2023-Feb-02 01:59 UTC
Length - 2:28
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 295,331 views on Wednesday, 1 February 2023 our article of the day is 1962 Mexico City radiation accident.
Between March and August 1962, a radiation incident in Mexico City occurred when a ten-year-old boy took home an unprotected industrial radiography source. Four people died from overexposure to radiation from the 5-Ci cobalt-60 capsule, an industrial radiography orphan source that was not contained in its proper shielding.
Reports differ as to the source's provenance: it was either found in a dump, found in a field, or was already in the house's yard when the affected family moved in and "was left to the family to keep and watch without any of the members of the family knowing exactly what the container was". For several days, the boy kept the capsule in his pocket, then placed it in the kitchen cabinet of his home in Mexico City. Having obtained the source on March 21, the boy died 38 days later on April 29. Subsequently, his pregnant mother died on July 10, his two-year-old sister died on August 18, and his grandmother died on October 15 that year. The boy's father also received a significant radiation dose; he survived, however, presumably because he worked outside the home and his exposure was lower. Five other individuals also received significant overdoses of radiation.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:59 UTC on Thursday, 2 February 2023.
For the full current version of the article, see 1962 Mexico City radiation accident on Wikipedia.
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