Fire officials urge: Recycle old smoke detectors BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - Township and fire officials announced that the month of March has been designated Recycle Smoke Detectors Month. "Usually we would remind residents to change the battery of their smoke detectors as they change their clocks," said Ward 1 Councilman Charles Kenny. "However, with the new federal law moving the change of the clocks up, we want to remind residents to also change the battery to their smoke detectors and also to recycle their smoke detectors." In August 2005, the U.S. Congress passed an energy bill that included extending Daylight Saving Time [DST] by about a month.As of 2007, DST starts the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. Kenny joined Mayor John E. McCormac, council President and Ward 2 Councilman Richard Dalina, Ward 4 Councilman James Major, and representatives from the 12 fire districts in the township on Feb. 12 to announce Kenny's fire safety and awareness program to encourage township residents to recycle damaged and inoperable smoke detectors. The proclamation reminds residents that more than 1.7 million fires strike American homes and businesses each year, costing countless lives, injuries and property destruction. Kenny said he could not take credit for the initiative. "A resident e-mailed me [with the idea to remind township residents to recycle their smoke detectors]," he said. The two most common types of smoke detectors commercially are ionization chamber and photoelectric smoke detectors. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site, ionization chamber smoke detectors contain a small amount of radioactive material encapsulated in a metal chamber. They take advantage of the ions created by ionizing radiation to develop a low but steady electrical current. Smoke particles entering the chamber disrupt the current and trigger the detector's alarm. Ionization chamber detectors react more quickly to fast flaming fires that give off little smoke. The councilman touched upon the small amount of radioactive material that the ionization chamber smoke detectors emanate. "The [americium found in] smoke detectors have a half-life of about [432 years] … if the landfills pile up with too many, it is not a good situation for the environment," said Kenny. The long half-life means that americium decays very slowly, emitting very little radiation. At the end of the 10-year useful life of the smoke detector, it retains essentially all its original activity. Residents can drop off their smoke detectors at theAvenel Fire Department, 346 Avenel St., from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; the Colonia Fire Department, 250 InmanAve., from8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday plus 7:30-9 p.m. on Friday; the Fords Fire Department, 667 King Georges Road, from8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; the Hopelawn Fire Department, 127 Loretta St., 24 hours a day, seven days a week; Iselin Fire Department No. 9, 1222, Green St., from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; Iselin Fire Department No. 11, 20 Auth Ave., 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and theWoodbridge Fire Department, 418 School St., from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Fire officials also said residents can recycle their old batteries at their local library.