[ QUOTE ]
Jefff said:
here is something I found while checking on the dangers of tritium.. "copied from a web site for info purposes only"
Tritium (heavy hydrogen with two neutrons) is radioactive, emitting beta particles with a low energy of 18 keV, and having a 12 year half life. besides being useful when building hydrogen bombs, it also has numerous other applications.
A variety of items are sold containing tritium and phosphors, which glow in the dark. Examples include compasses, wristwatches, and glow in the dark keychains, as well as emergency exit signs. The tritium betas excite the phosphors, causing them to glow with visible light. A few microns of plastic is sufficient to block the betas, so the items are quite safe. Unless you were to open one, I guess. Some of thse things have several curies of tritium in them. I don't know what the health effects would be of exposure. Probably not as bad as from the phosphors!
Update! They may not be quite so safe... I decided to place one on a pancake GM detector. The readings went from 55 CPM background to about 210 CM. I then removed the actual glass tube (with the tritium and phosphors) from the plastic holder, and the reading jumped to about 690 CPM. I suspect that the betas are hitting the glass, and creating x-rays, with a peak energy of 18 keV. The plastic absorbs most, but not all, of them.
"Tritium was believed to be a relatively benign radionuclide because of the weakness of the beta radiation emitted when it decays. The beta electron is a small particle that passes readily through most barriers. The dangers of tritium come from inhalation, ingestion, and absorption.
Tritium is carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Human beings can receive chronic exposure to OBT through the ingestion of plants and animals exposed in an effluent pathway, in addition to direct uptake through inhalation, absorption and drinking contaminated water. Especially sensitive to the effects of tritium are rapidly growing cells such as fetal tissue, genetic materials and blood forming organs.
[/ QUOTE ]
Umm...beta radiation does not magically convert into x-rays by passing through glass. Nor do beta particles pass 'readily through most barriers'. Thats a good description of gammas, not betas. Frankly, I'd be wary of anything that website says if it portrays something like this as a 'fact'.
http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/radiationtypes.html
We've beaten the tritium horse to death over and over and over and over. And its been repeatedly proven that they are very safe. Don't eat a couple hundred glow-rings and you'll be just fine.
Mark