Radium bromide the air causes this luminescence. Radium bromide is also very dangerous since the crystals occasionally explode. Helium gas evolved from alpha particles can accumulate within the crystals which cause them to weaken and rupture. Another property of radium bromide is its ability to crystallize from an aqueous solution. It forms a dihydrate, very similar to barium bromide. The chemical radium bromide is not found in nature; it is created. To extract radium from uranium or pitchblende ores, the most common practice is called the Curie method which it involves two major stages. The first stage is a chemical treatment to
Radium dials 186 keV gamma emission 3% of the time. Also, Ra is rarely present without other transuranic elements or decay products, which may emit beta or gamma radiation. Therefore, the radiation hazards from radium paint may not be entirely removed by the varnish, case or container. Care should be taken to prevent the inhalation or ingestion of flakes or dust which may contain radioactive materials. Radium dials have been shown to have dose rates near the face of in excess of 10uSv / hr, which would deliver a dose equivalent to one days background exposure in around 20 minutes. This dose