The Texas Department of State Health Services has found a lookup after a camera containing radioactive material went missing in the Houston area .

According to the department , the tv camera went miss on March 9 , 2023 , with the last confirmed location being 4040 Little York Road in Houston . The Statewide Maintenance Company lose the camera , which is commonly used in construction to produce radiographic images , which are then used to detectflaws not seeable to the naked optic .

Texas has not released information about the eccentric of radioactive informant inside the camera , though producers of skiagraphy equipment Source Production & Equipment Co.advertise that it can use iridium-192 or selenium-75 . The product usesdepleted uranium ( DU ) as a shield . eat up uranium – a less radioactive edition of naturally occur U – is often used as shield against radioactivity from X- or Vasco da Gamma beam , due to its mellow density .

" This eccentric of radioactive author is call a ' seal source ' because the radioactive material is sealed inside a capsule , which is in turn sealed inside the camera with protective shielding and other safety feature of speech , " the Department of State Health Services say in their military press release .

" The outside of the photographic camera has radiation markings . Levels of radiation outside the camera , itself , are not dangerous . "

The only path the camera could pose a threat to the public is if the camera were strip and the radioactive textile removed its housing . At that point ,   " it ’s fairly grave fairly quickly " , said department interpreter Lara Anton , according to The New York Times .

So far the authorities havesearched a five mile radiususing radiation - sensitive equipment that can detect a radioactive source from about 15.24 meters ( 50 feet ) . The camera was reportedly retrieve to be missing when workers returned from lunch at a fast food eating place .

Statewide Maintenance Company are propose a reward for the return of the camera .

Just last month , a bantam radioactive capsule was lost on a highway in Australia , before – by some miracle – being retrieve a few days afterwards .