Mexican authorities are on the alert in five southeastern states after thieves snatched potentially deadly radioactive material.  The iridium-192, which is used for industrial radiography, was taken from a car in Tabasco state.

The Interior Ministry is warning people to to look out for the container marked “X-571”, and stay at least 30 meters away from it.  Iridium “could cause permanent injuries to the person who handles it or who has been in contact with it for a brief time (minutes or hours)”, if not handled with the proper protection.  And it is very, very unlikely the thief or thieves have that.  “Being close to this quantity of unprotected radioactive material for hours or days could be fatal,” the statement warned.

This is not Mexico’s first alert for stolen radioactive material.  And although the specter of terrorism looms large, it’s also very likely that the thieves have absolutely no idea what they’ve taken.

In December 2013, thieves stole a truck – unaware that it contained a container of highly radioactive cobalt-60 from a cancer-treating medical device near Mexico City.  They tried to open it to see what was inside.  Five suspects were sent to hospital to be treated for radioactive exposure.

Last year and again in February, authorities chased after and recovered stolen trucks that had been transporting radioactive material for industrial use.  So far, Mexico has been lucky in that no civilians were exposed during these episodes.  But security still needs to be taken seriously amd ratcheted up.