Is the radioactive element in ionization units a hazard?
No. The bit of Americium 241 that is used will not cause harm. It has less power than the radium that is used in watch dials. To give you an idea of its safety, a person flying coast to coast gets more radiation in the sky than you do with a long-term exposure to an ionization smoke alarm. In fact, you can discard the smoke alarms in the trash without any special precautions. When you read claims that ionization smoke alarms are hazardous, be aware that competitors or experts working for competitors have been known to make assertions about the so-called radiation hazard. We have found that they have no basis in fact. When ionization smoke alarms were first manufactured, the federal government monitored their use to assure that they would not pose a risk to consumers. After several years of monitoring, the government was confident that they were safe and halted its monitoring program.
