Erko Emanator (ca. 1930s)

This is a German radium emanator designed to add radon to water. The water would then be used for either drinking or bathing as shown in the images below. According to the paperwork that came with the emanator, it was sold in 1936 for 126 Reichsmarks by the Berliner Radium Aktiemgesellschaft.

Size: ca. 11" high and 4" in diameter

The text on the label on the front of the emanator (below left) roughly translates as: "Radium device for drinking and bathing." The letters D.R.G.M. at the bottom indicate that this is a German Reich Registered Design.

The metal tag hanging from the back of the device (below right) reads "Leistungt 5000 Mache-Einheiten in 24 Stunden" This indicates that the device can produce 5000 Mache Units in 24 hours. One Mache Unit generally equates to 364 pCi of radon-222 per liter of water.

Kindly donated by the Health Physics Society. Also, thanks to Onno Pietersen for his assistance in obtaining this device.