If you're fascinated with luminous glow in the dark watches and signages, you mightwonder what is behind the continuous glow.
Surprisingly, this chemical substance is from a radioactive chemical element called Tritium. Discovered in 1934 by physicist
Ernest Rutherford, M.L. Oliphant, and Paul Harteck at Cambridge University.
By combining Tritium to phosphors,
glowing light was produced. It energize the light-
producing phosphors on consumable items to glow more brightness without using any
electrical powers supply. Physicist further conduct study to produce brighter light bulb,
without electrical supply that powers today's modern LED bulbs. Thus, giving ray of
hopes to isolated communities with no electricity available.
Way back year 1955, this radioactive substance began to be used in Savannah River Site ,
(SRS) - a nuclear reservation of United States, to fuel nuclear weapons.
Just 18 grams of it is enough to fuel 5 destructive nuclear weapons. Thus, making a name as one of the most valuable substances in the world.
According to recent value provided by Business Insider, 1 gram of Tritium cost $30,000.
How this element is produced to obtain such price on the world market?
Well, this element is extremely rare in nature. It is not even listed on Hydrogen Isotopes abundance chart.
To obtain it naturally, you have to wait for a cosmic ray to interact with nitrogen in the air.
Of course, cosmic rays rarely reach the Earth's Atmosphere.
Today, Tritiums are produced by Nuclear Power Plants through processes that create situations where nuclear reactions, such as fission, fusion, and activation, can occur.
Since Tritium is a radioactive substance, you might be worried about your health and the hazard it may cause to environment.
The widely use of self-luminous items is very common and not considered to be a threat to our health and safety.
However, tritium-containing devices do have the potential to release tritium to the environment if physically damaged by improper disposal on landfills. Although tritium decays, because of regular production of nuclear plants, this substance exists today and spread throughout our environment by means of Water Cycle.
When tritium mixed with water, a tritium atom replaces a hydrogen atom in water (H2O) to form HTO.
This HTO commonly known as tritiated water or heavy water has the same chemical properties as water causing it to be also odourless and colourless.
If two glass placed on our front, one contain pure water (H2O) and the other contain hazardous tritiated water (HTO), it would be hard for us to recognize and
detect which glass contain pure water and which one does not.
Tritiated water has higher boiling
point (101.51 °C) than normal water, but having the same properties it can also evaporate and
spread to lakes, rivers, and seas when it rains. Environmental Experts implemented Derived
Release Limits (DRLs) that restrict the amount of radioactive material that may be released to
regulate the amount on our environment.
This is the only way of protecting the environment
from overdosing radioactive substance.
Tritium willnot cause harm to humans and animals
externally, because our bodies have mechanisms that can act to repair damage to our cells that is
caused by radiation.
But, it will not change the fact that high dose of tritium has potential hazard
when it is inhaled and injected through drinking water. It will elevate the risk of having cancer
and can cause birth defects to unborn babies.
No doubt, tritium is rare and contains radioactive
substance that is very hazardous to our health and environment.
But the fact that it is also can.
Be naturally produced is enough for us to be responsible in handling and using this substance on
our planet for our own beneficial.
"Humans invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse in the world would construct a mousetrap." - Albert Einstein