I'm worried about Tritium

Hi,

I'm posting here because I cant find any other sources of info on tritium H3.

I work in an engineering plant that repairs railway indicators and associated materials.

Part of the work involves upgrading old tritium painted discs to new less toxic materials. We've always been told our work is safe.

Recently one train manufacturer has decided to remove ALL the discs for fear of radioactive poisoning.. It has me concerned as in the train use they are in an enclosed plastic containers.

My job involves removing the discs which invariably break, or if they dont break the tritium paint flakes off or comes away as dust.

The discs are approx 3 - 25 years old.

The only indication I have as to strength is the label which the train manufacturer supplies which states the activity as < 2 GBq

I handle approx 20 of these discs weekly - they are approx 40mm diameter.

We have been told we dont need any sort of Personal Protective Equipment.

Is what I'm doing safe?

Sorry to ask on here but reading the threads you guys seem knowledgeable on Tritium

Jez

Smoking, drinking, and living in a radon filled house, don't require PPE either.

But, I know that I'd definitely wear gloves. And, if paint is dusting/flaking off, consider a dust mask too. I probably wouldn't use a disk as a plate for my lunch either ;-)

Tritium is a gas, not a paint. If what you're working with is a glowing gaseous material inside of sealed glass vials, that's tritium. What you're describing sounds like something else (hopefully not radium paint, which is highly lethal.)

StarHalo said:

Tritium is a gas, not a paint. If what you're working with is a glowing gaseous material inside of sealed glass vials, that's tritium. What you're describing sounds like something else (hopefully not radium paint, which is highly lethal.)

Click to expand...

OK...the items are delivered back to us with a 'radio active material' warning, advising:

RAS - Tritium H3

ACTIVITY - <2 GBq

Is tritium something that a type of paint gives off?

Jez

StarHalo said:

Tritium is a gas, not a paint. If what you're working with is a glowing gaseous material inside of sealed glass vials, that's tritium. What you're describing sounds like something else (hopefully not radium paint, which is highly lethal.)

Click to expand...

Tritium paint exists, but is not very common any longer. Google "CWC Watches with Tritium Paint".

As to the OP, tritium is a low energy beta emitter (electrons). The particles that are given off are stopped by your outer layer of dead skin. External exposure to tritium will not harm you (although, it may be absorbed through the skin). The only problem could be ingestion of the dust. A good write-up on ingestion of tritium is here: http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/tritium.htm

Since you're working with radioactive materials for your job, you should check your state's law on radiation monitoring. I work at a state university and occasionally use equipment that emit x-rays. I am required by state law to wear a dosimeter (radiation "badge" and ring) while using the equipment. I turn the dosimeters in quarterly for analysis. At the end of the year, I get a print-out on the amount of radiation I received while "on the job". Radiation on the job is highly regulated and there are limits for yearly exposure, etc.

I urge you to look into your state's laws on radiation exposure on the job.

rudy said:

Tritium paint exists, but is not very common any longer.

Click to expand...

Hm, well that does sound pretty dangerous, since we know tritium can leech through plastic, I imagine a paint base wouldn't provide much protection at all. I would prefer to avoid it..