A passenger recently arriving at Zhoushuizi International Airport in Dalian, Liaoning province, was found carrying a highly radioactive pendant that triggered alarms during routine customs screening, according to Dalian Customs.

The pendant, described by the traveler as a "talisman" from a friend, registered 168.6 microsieverts per hour, 1,686 times above normal background levels. Further analysis identified the radioactive substance as thorium-232, a material classified by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen for its ability to cause cancer in humans.