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Were radioactive materials used in neon indicator lamps?

Old-fashioned glow starters for fluorescent lighting [How a glowstarter works] often contain small traces of radioactive gas (like $^{85}$Kr or tritium) to start the neon discharge, although [some new ones] are also marketed as claiming "contains no radioactive substances".

But starting the glow discharge in such a glow starter seems to be similar to starting any neon lamp. I'm curious, did the small neon indicator lights also contain radioactive substances?

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    $\begingroup$ I’m voting to close this question because it belongs in History of Science Stack Exchange. $\endgroup$
    – Farcher
    Commented Jul 4 at 13:34
  • $\begingroup$ Adding either sounds like a bad idea because the relatively short half life of either nucleus will considerably change device characteristics over the (usually long) lifetime of the device. This may not be much of a problem with a glow starter which is usually a device that can (and will) be replaced regularly, but it could be an issue with a neon lamp based electronic device. Having said that, just because it's a bad idea doesn't mean that it's not happening. $\endgroup$
    – FlatterMann
    Commented Jul 4 at 13:35
  • $\begingroup$ I’ve never seen mention of this in any of the training on radiation or waste disposal over the decades. For context, disposal of jewelers rouge, a classic polishing compound, is now considered radioactive mixed waste because of the unintended trace radium in the cerium oxide. If neon lamps had something in them, we wouldn’t be able to just throw them out. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Jul 4 at 14:28
  • $\begingroup$ Some did, some didn't. NE-2 lamps don't contain any radioactive materials but NE-83 lamps apparently do. It can be verified that NE-2 lamps require higher voltage to start in the dark. $\endgroup$
    – A Nejati
    Commented Jul 4 at 14:35
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    $\begingroup$ See worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Suppliers/GHI/… $\endgroup$
    – A Nejati
    Commented Jul 4 at 14:35

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