Tritium In Water

By Laiba Sarwar

Tritium

Produced both as:

•Naturally

•Anthropogenic ally

Tritiated water:

•radioactive form of water

•tritium oxide,T2O or super-heavy water

Tritium in water:• naturally occurs in the air, rivers, lakes or the

sea.

• first tracer used extensively in oceanographic studies

• Oxidizes into HTO

Natural tritium concentrations in water:

• tritium concentrations are reported as TU

• 10-18 tritium atoms per hydrogen atom.

• a tritium to hydrogen ratio [T]/[H] of 10-18

Anthropogenic tritium concentration in water:

• A major part of the bomb tritium was injected into the stratosphere.

• Transferred to the surface waters of the oceans, the largest sink of tritium.

• tritium distribution is strongly asymmetric.

Present day tritium concentrations:

• 10 TU in continental precipitation.

• In the ocean the maximum tritium concentrations observed in the northern hemisphere surface water are of the order of 2 TU.

• tritium concentrations in Southern Ocean surface waters are of the order of 0.15 TU.

Properties of tritium water:

• Color : Colorless liquid

• Boiling Point: 101.51 deg C

• Melting Point: 4.48 deg C

• Density: 1.2138 g/cu cm at 25 deg C

• Vapor Pressure: Liquid vapor pressure: 2.64 kPa at 25 deg C

• Heat of Vaporization: 45.81 J/mol K at 25 degC

Effects and Uses of Tritium Water

Effects of Tritium:• Binds readily with

tissues• Can cause:

• Cancer• Genetic defects• Reproductive

defects• Developmental

abnormalities• Decreased brain

weight

Duration:Range from 10 days-10 yearsCan become chronic by continuous exposure

Uses:• Used to measure

total volume of water in body

• Amount of Tritium water in urine => Amount of Tritium water in body