How dangerous is tritium

rayman

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Last saturday I broke one small 1.55x5mm tritium vial:(. I didn't directly inhaled it. And used a breathing mask after I saw that the vial was broken. So now the question is how dangerous is this small amount of tritium for me?

Please only answer if you know what your are writing!

rayman
http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=thMx..&search=mask
 

Lunal_Tic

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There is some discussion on this in a fairly recent thread and there have been others that have covered it in detail but I don't have those links handy. Hope you find the info you seek.

-LT
 

Size15's

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You should not worry at all. You have been exposed to no appreciable risk of injury.

You were in no more danger than if you had broken anything else made of glass.
The quantity of Tritium that was released was useless as far as causing harm is concerned.
The broken glass posed a cutting hazard although the risk of being cut by it was likely pretty small.

Tritium is 'lighter than air' and will quickly dissipate into the atmosphere. Open a window or a door if inside and the concentration of Tritium will drop even fast. Any air movement (such as a person walking) will help mix the air and dilute the concentration even faster.

In the time it took you to put on the breathing personal protective equipment the opportunity to inhale any Tritium would have been long past. It's a bit like putting a raincoat once you get inside and you realise its started to rain [outdoors].
 

StarHalo

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From the last "When Tritium Attacks" thread:

Should it break: The actual radioactive component in the vial is an isotope of hydrogen, which is much lighter than air; the tiny amount gas would immediately disperse and float away. Even if you were standing directly over a freshly broken vial, odds are the gas would be too dispersed for even a single molecule to reach your breathing space. If the vial were in your hand or pocket - again, it's a radioactive gas and not solid or fluid, it would simply float off and away, no more glow from your vial.

Worst case scenario: You break the vial on a table/desk, then IMMEDIATELY cup your hands around the vial and place your face directly over it and inhale deeply. If this were to happen, you'd receive as much radiation as ...a dental x-ray.

That's the beauty of the tritium vial design, rather than relying on the radioactive substance itself to glow, it uses a strong phosphor that glows brightly with very little energy, so you can use a remarkably weak source of radioactivity to produce a glow. The beta radiation that comes off of a tritium vial cannot penetrate tissue paper, and can only make it about a quarter inch from the vial in open air before dissipating. It's so weak that even if you were to set a Geiger Counter on its most sensitive setting, then press the probe directly onto the vial, it would not register a reading at all.
 

Youfoundnemo

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Everything in the world is radioactive to some point, one day I was talking with the radiologist at the VA and got him to bring his geiger counter out side and let me play around with it (super expensive one, like I could work my whole life and still not be able to replace it) and I put it near the concrete steps of the locksmiths shop.....the GC went crazy, then went back inside and walked around the building and everything made it go off to some extent.....no need to be afraid or anything but its constantly present
 

rocled

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I have broke a few myself. I was more worried about the trit I just broke instead of the radioactive hydrogen. Besides, if my cell phone can pop popcorn with a single call (look it up on youtube), then I am not worried.
 

LukeA

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I have broke a few myself. I was more worried about the trit I just broke instead of the radioactive hydrogen. Besides, if my cell phone can pop popcorn with a single call (look it up on youtube), then I am not worried.

That's a hoax.
 

JimmyM

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Sounds like you're in no danger. But, the mask, unless it was a supplied air respirator, wouldn't have stopped it anyway. Tritium is a diatomic hydrogen molecule with 2 extra neutrons per nucleus. It's smaller than an Oxygen molecule.
 

csshih

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lol, sgt. LEd.

well it's also only alpha radiation, which won't penetrate skin.

oops, I meant beta, which still is weak.
 
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Oznog

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Ha fun story about tritium hysteria, the "Arthur Brisbane" incident:
http://www.safe-t-first.com/commercial/library/articles/random%20nuclear.htm

Kid throws tantrum and breaks tritium exit sign.
They decided to get all hysterical and shovel the entire ward's crap into 59 barrels and throw them away (pretty unnecessary).

But they sent them to their medical waste incinerator disposal company. Now really tritium doesn't require nuclear waste storage (crazy expensive), but the NRC got on their asses because they were throwing it away because it was believed to be contaminated which requires a totally different load of processing and expense. And that facility probably has to deal with real medical radioactive devices and waste so the NRC didn't take reports of them mishandling it lightly. In the end that was like a $250,000 incident.
 
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StarHalo

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Those exit sign tritium vials are HUGE, over 5" in length. But by the time you got out the stepladder to take down what remained of a broken sign, the gas would be long gone..
 

AvidHiker

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Once again, I would suggest that the potential risks of exposure are being seriously downplayed here by people who don't appear to have any significant background in radiation and the related helath effects.
Relatively little is truly known about the effects of tritium exposure on the body, and (in the event of a gas release) routes of exposure are not entirely limited to inhalation of the dry gas (which is apparently the least dangerous). Broken exit signs are considered hazardous by the EPA, and a review of this webpage would suggest that it's not an incident to be treated lightly (note some of the vagueness of the language used here, like "gas... most likely will quickly disperse " - this would suggest a lack of full understanding).

I'm not trying to scare anyone, I own plany of tritium myself and consider it to be quite safe. I just personally feel it should be handled (especially when released) with an abundance of caution just because it's not worth the risk. I also think its a disservice to the CPF community to not make people aware of the potential risk, regardless of whether or not it is significant - this is why I have repeatedly posted in these threads with links to relevant information. To state things as fact which have little or no scientific study to back them up is just careless, IMO.

So, in short, if you break a marker or glowring - don't freak out! But it doesn't hurt to wash things which could have been in close contact with escaping gas (especially for large tubes like in glowrings), and dispose of the broken bits carefully. Most glowrings don't contain huge amounts of tritium, but some can contain levels where the risk starts to become a concern (in excess of 1 curie) and it's entirely possible that a significant internal dose from such a source could pose some health risk (although getting all that tritium into your body from one single incident isn't very likely). A recent study on the internal effects of tritium exposure was completed in the UK and can be found here. This study suggests that the risk is greater than previously thought, enough so to recommend an elevation in hazard classifcation.
 

revs

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Okay, I have a question along these lines. I am guessing it would be okay, but, what would the effects be, if any, of putting tritium in a knife handle? I carry a Spyderco Salt everyday and was thinking of adding a couple small trits to it to help find it in the dark.

Yes, I get up early some days and don't want to turn on all the lights and wake up the wife.

If I am being paranoid, let me know. Thanks all.
 

DaFABRICATA

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Okay, I have a question along these lines. I am guessing it would be okay, but, what would the effects be, if any, of putting tritium in a knife handle? I carry a Spyderco Salt everyday and was thinking of adding a couple small trits to it to help find it in the dark.

Yes, I get up early some days and don't want to turn on all the lights and wake up the wife.

If I am being paranoid, let me know. Thanks all.



You'll be good....a lot of people here put them in their flashlights, so a knife should be no different. Just make sure to put it in a location that will not allow it to break easily...ie a recessed area in the handle.
 
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