I have at my home a smoke detector
that is 27 years old. Would it have been possible for
the alpha recoil to have caused the seal over the
radiation to break down over time as I read online this
could happen. I worry that if the seal broken then the
americium could have leaked out. Also, after 27 years
would the americium sample need a leak test?
I had read this about a 1970's detector on an internet q&a site: question & answer.
It really worried me so much. Basically they were saying that the yellow colour of the dust around the ionisation chamber vents was caused by the gold seal around the Americium source being destroyed by alpha recoil or else the Americium ions being a yellow colour and the Americium leaking out or they even suggested decayed Neptunium could have been the cause. However you have never seen this alpha recoil happen in a smoke detector with less radiation like mine and I also thought maybe because my smoke detector was so old that the seal around the source could have leaked. Can age cause the seal around the source to be destroyed more by alpha recoil? Is there any visible way of knowing that the smoke detector isn't leaking- ie colour of the dust (it was grey/brown in mine)? I worry as I was cleaning the inside of the detector when changing the battery and was touching the ionisation chamber?