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Tritium intake by exposure to plastic case watches
P Brunner1, P Schneider, H Scheicher
1Department of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Technology, Innsbruck, Austria.
Health Physics
|April 1, 1996
Summary
Tritium release from plastic watches contaminates surrounding items and poses a skin dose risk. While whole-body exposure is minimal, annual skin dose exceeds public limits, necessitating careful handling and storage of these timepieces.
Area of Science:
- Radiological Health
- Materials Science
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Tritium (H-3) is utilized in plastic-cased watches for self-powered illumination.
- Concerns exist regarding tritium leakage from watch casings and potential exposure risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify tritium release rates from plastic watch cases.
- To assess tritium uptake in wearers of these watches.
- To evaluate potential risks associated with tritium leakage and storage.
Main Methods:
- Immersion of 82 waterproofed watches in water baths for 24-hour periods to measure tritium release.
- Analysis of tritium concentration in the water and in the urine of 108 watch wearers.
- Assessment of tritium diffusion and contamination in stored watch collections.
Main Results:
- Mean tritium release rate measured at 24,400 Bq d(-1), with a wide range (110-162,000 Bq d(-1)).
- Mean tritium concentration in urine of wearers was 197 Bq L(-1) (up to 1,133 Bq L(-1)).
- Annual skin dose is 3-4 times the public limit due to skin absorption, despite negligible whole-body dose.
- Storage of multiple watches can lead to significant tritium accumulation (up to 4 MBq d(-1)) in enclosed spaces.
Conclusions:
- Plastic-cased watches exhibit measurable tritium release, posing a localized contamination risk.
- Tritium exposure via skin absorption from these watches exceeds public dose limits.
- Improper storage of tritium-containing watches can lead to elevated environmental tritium levels and cross-contamination.