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Federal Customs Service finds radioactive volcanic sand at Moscow's airport

The woman explained that she had collected the sand on the coast of the Indian Ocean and was carrying it to make cosmetics

MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Russian customs officers have detected and seized radioactive volcanic sand at Vnukovo airport from a female passenger who arrived from India transiting through the UAE, according to the FCS official Telegram channel.

"Inspectors stopped a 42-year-old woman from Moscow, who arrived from India transiting through the UAE, in the ‘green’ corridor of the Moscow airport. The radiation level of her luggage exceeded the norm 11-fold, which triggered the radiation control system "Yantar," as reported in the FCS.

The passenger carried a powdery, black-colored substance in her luggage, the agency said. Customs officers found that the sand contains a natural radionuclide, thorium-232. The woman explained that she had collected it on the coast of the Indian Ocean and was carrying it to make cosmetics. She did not know that the substance was a health hazard, as the FCS pointed out.

"According to the decision of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, the import of radioactive sand into Russia is prohibited. The goods have been seized and placed in a special isolated room for long-term storage," as indicated in the message.

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