Re: Should my plastic flatware glow in the dark? Toxic? Radiation?

Most likely the "glow" is a fluorescent or phosphorescent dye, in which the 
fluorescence or phosphorescence is activated by sunlight or fluorescent 
light.  Fluorescent dyes glow right after they are exposed to light; 
phosphorescent dyes continue to glow for many minutes after exposure.  The 
dyes are probably not harmful -- Vitamin B and related compounds are 
fluorescent -- but whether or not they are harmful depends on the chemical 
composition of the dye and is not necessarily related to its fluorescence.  
The plastic itself may fluoresce.  Many years ago, bright yellow and orange 
Fiesta Ware used uranium in the glaze, but the radioactivity of natural 
uranium is extremely low and you wouldn't get more irradiation from dishes 
than from being in a concrete building.  If your dishes are bright yellow 
or bright orange, the coloring may contain a uranium compound, and the 
emissions from uranium may themselves stimulate the fluorescence or 
phosphorescence.  But if your glow comes after exposure to light, I doubt 
uranium has anything to do with it.  If the plates are some other color, 
then there isn't uranium in the dye.

I would check with the Federal Trade Commission and/or with Consumers Union 
(the folks who publish Consumer Reports)to see if they know anything about 
possible harmful or toxic substances in these plates.

It might interest you to know that nowadays "glow in the dark" wrist 
watches use phosphorescent paint precisely because it isn't harmful.