<Americium is a synthetic radioactive element produced by the bombardment of plutonium with high-energy neutrons.

Sounds scary, don't it?

It really isn't. As just one clue, a tiny piece of an oxide of Americium-241 is the working ingredient in most smoke detectors, which means you are probably sitting within 20 feet of some right now. It has a half-life of about 400 years, and is an alpha and gamma emitter.

It is hazardous if ingested in a soluble form, but not normally otherwise. I suppose you could do some damage with enough of it, but after they cut up the beryllium, they are probably going to be the ones with health problems.