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Re: Tritium [Re: sumoj275] #399445 04/07/10 02:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 371 NH- The South of the North Vendetta13 OP Mongrel
OP Vendetta13 Mongrel Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 371 NH- The South of the North	Quote The tritium used is from reactor water. Regulated by the US gov't. Neat idea though. you can get them as long as they don't get shipped from another country, if you can find an american vendor that has em they are legal. this place had em i saw but they were sold out Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if you don't take it out and use it, it's going to rust.

Re: Tritium [Re: Vendetta13] #399446 04/07/10 05:58 PM
Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,113 Somewhere in Northern Nevada tedwca Junk Yard Dog
tedwca Junk Yard Dog Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,113 Somewhere in Northern Nevada	Remember tritium is radioactive. Here's a few quotes from Mustardman, a physicist, here on the forums about tritium. If you notice most of the brighter map reading lights from the Google search are not importable to the US. I'm guessing there is a good reason for this.<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /><img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> Quote The glow isn't the tritium at all - it's a fluorescent coating on the inside of the little tubes. Different coatings yield different colors. The tritium is just the source of excitation. In other words, it's the energy source. Quote As I said, the trace amounts of tritium in these things are so low that our current understanding of radiation tells us they should probably be harmless.... But the concept still gives me the heebie jeebies. Quote The primary radiation given off during tritium's decay is electrons. These electrons excite the molecules in the coating on the tubes and cause them to fluoresce. However, some electrons certainly pass through the coating without interacting, where they are most likely scattered by the casing. During that scattering process, x-rays are the most likely radiation to be released, meaning you are probably taking a small but constant dose of x-rays from those tubes. Sealing something in plastic rarely does much to block radiation... The bet on the tritium glow devices is that there is so little radiation that it's probably not harmful, and not that sealing the device blocks the rads. Quote I've worked with tritium. I have a deep knowledge of the process of radioactive decay in tritium. I've carried out experiments with FAR more dangerous radioactive materials. I know from a scientific standpoint that the minute amounts of tritium in these perma-glow devices are harmless... Yet that doesn't prevent me from being weirded out about the idea of strapping a little vial of radioactive gas to my body. Last edited by tedwca; 04/07/10 06:00 PM. Ted Wilson Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem. BTW - Winter is Coming.

Re: Tritium [Re: tedwca] #399447 04/07/10 06:03 PM
Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,113 Somewhere in Northern Nevada tedwca Junk Yard Dog
tedwca Junk Yard Dog Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,113 Somewhere in Northern Nevada	Here's another link http://www.blackcatsystems.com/science/radprod.html [quote]Tritium Glow Lights 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! [color:"red"]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. [/color]The plastic absorbs most, but not all, of them. Ted Wilson Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem. BTW - Winter is Coming.

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