AW: [ RadSafe ] Tritium questions

[Franz Schönhofer]

Jim,

I think I can offer you an explanation which has a very high probability to
be the correct one. 

I have done a lot of work in the early 80's on the transfer of tritium from
wrist watches to the human body. Especially wrist watches with a plastic
casing from a certain brand (Swatch) showed a very high transfer rate. I
acted as a human guinea pig and when wearing one of these watches my tritium
level in urine (and in the body) rose within a rather short time to an
equilibrium concentration of about 3000 Bq/l. This effect was also observed
with watches with metallic casings, especially titanium casings, though to a
lesser extent. 

At about the same time we found in the water in an active communal landfill
in one of our major Austrian towns concentrations of tritium of about 3500
Bq/l and a collegue found in another one very similar concentrations. Since
these plastic watches were actually intended not so much to show the time
but to be a "cool" and "stylish" accessory for mostly teenagers, which
should be replaced within short time by a cooler and more stylish one, they
were obviously discarded in large numbers into household garbage. We believe
that this was the reason for the elevated tritium concentrations. 

I think we can exclude exit signs, because they were hardly ever used in
Austria, except by Austrian Airlines, but they sure would not dispose them
of in the landfills we investigated. Tritium is used in hospital only in
research or some diagnosis in declining amounts. I have a strong feeling,
that lithogenic tritium can be totally excluded because of the extremely low
possibility of such a reaction. Furthermore I remember that the uranium
bearing rocks are much further to the North than Flagstaff, at the Grand
Canyon and then in Utah, Colorado or in New Mexico. 

The tritium concentrations in fallout precipitation was in the late 50's and
especially the early 60's by several orders of magnitude higher than it is
today - it is now close to natural background. By physical decay it will
have decayed considerably by now, not to talk about the dilution processes
going on. That plumes from the Nevada Test Site may have carried large
amounts can sure not be excluded, but I can compare it with my work for the
IAEA on the French nuclear bomb test ground in Mururoa and Fangataufa, where
only very low or rather hardly to detect concentrations of tritium were
found in the environment. 

As for the Flagstaff tritium data: I know, that the data of this network are
publicly accessible on the IAEA web-site. I do not have the relevant website
at hand, but I recommend that you conduct a google search and it should be
easily retrievable. If you are not successful you may contact me. 

Finally a personal remark: I envy you that you work in this great area, the
"South-West", maybe at Flagstaff (?), close to all these great places like
Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon etc. etc. I have been there
several times, but I hope to live long enough to go there several times
again!

I hope that helps a little, at least you know now, that elevated tritium
concentrations in landfills occur also at other places.

Best wishes,

Franz 


Franz Schoenhofer, PhD
MinRat i.R.
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Wien/Vienna
AUSTRIA


-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im Auftrag
von Jim Otton
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 13. November 2008 17:33
An: radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] Tritium questions


Radsafers,
We are investigating a landfill in the southwestern U.S. open from the 1950s
to the 1990s.  Elevated tritium occurs in water in the landfill (445 TU) and
just downgradient from it (16TU). Further downgradient levels drop to about
0.5 TU.
Possible sources could include bomb-pulse tritium (site is downwind from the
Nevada Test Site), tritium from exit signs or medical waste, or lithogenic
tritium.
Questions:
When did tritium commonly become used in exit signs?
Are there any medical wastes that contain tritium or could generate tritium?
Does someone have a reference for the Flagstaff IAEA/WMO station tritium
data? We are aware of the Albuquerque station and its data.
What uranium and lithium concentrations are needed to generate significant
lithogenic tritium from the solid phases present in the landfill and
immediately downgradient?

Jim Otton
U.S. Geological Survey


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