Re: tritium exit signs - not

["Gerald Nicholls" <GNICHOLL@DEP.STATE.NJ.US>]

John Andrews noted that:



"Since they are very safe and aside from some regulatory issues, are painless, there must be another reason." 



Properly installed and maintained, these signs pose no significant hazard.  Two incidents here in New Jersey in the past five years demonstrate what can happen when they are not given the care they deserve.



In the first incident a teenaged male walking by a building demolition site picked up components of a sign, took it home and "opened it", breaking the glass tubing, in his basement bedroom.  The cost to clean up the tritium, dispose of the contaminated material and test him and others who were in the room was over $60,000.  



In a second incident, a teenaged male client at a state operated residential facility for individuals with severe emotional problems tore a sign off the wall and smashed it, contaminating himself, an attendant who was subduing him and rugs, furniture and draperies in a common room located in a dormitory.  Clean up, disposal and testing of the individuals involved cost more than $150,000.  



I would think very carefully about where I used these signs and how they should be installed and maintained.







Gerald P. Nicholls

NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection

609-633-7964

gnicholl@dep.state.nj.us



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