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question on lights please help!
mattrev:
--- Quote from: shehane on May 11, 2008, 03:58 ---"The low energy beta radiation from tritium cannot penetrate human skin, so tritium is only dangerous if consumed in large quantities. Small amounts are used with phosphors for self-illuminating devices such as watches and exit signs."
This paragraph was online in an article about the Safety Light Corporation in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. From what I know, the old lights should be disposed of and not left piled up in a garage. That being said, I wouldn't think it is a deadly situation. Just my opinion.
--- End quote ---
Tritium can go through skin. It's in water, absorbed into the body through the skin. The beta can't penetrate but it can still get into the body through absorption.
Already Gone:
Tritium exit signs are no particular hazard to people as long as they are sealed.
The Beta Particles are shielded by the plastic sides of the signs. The radiation and the radioactive material are contained within the signs as long as they are maintained.
Cracked and leaking signs will eventually become harmless once the Tritium (in the gaseous form) has been released, but will be a hazard while leaking. The Tritium (which is an isotope of Hydrogen) will eventually come into contact with water in some form and displace the Hydrogen in the water molecules. This water can be absorbed into the body - which is why Tritium is a Whole-Body Exposure hazard.
Due to the construction and composition of the signs, the Tritium will leak slowly and over a very long time.
The small amount of Tritium that leaks will not significantly increase the dose rate to people in the building unless the signs are allowed to accumulate - such as in a pile in the basement or other poorly-ventilated area.
Broken signs should be disposed of immediately. You can landfill them just like regular garbage. Landfill operators should not allow them to accumulate in one place either. Dispersion is the best thing to reduce the dose rate. Return them to the manufacturer or distributor.
Your school's knee-jerk reaction to remove the signs actually made them more hazardous than they would have been if they were just left where they were and maintained properly. Get the pile out of the garage as soon as possible. They are doing no good there. If they were still hanging from the ceiling of the school they would at least have been performing a vital function. As they are now, they are just a pile of junk that pose a (minor) health risk.
Mike_Koehler:
This is not a really big hazard as long as the signs are intact, They should be disposed of as soon as it is practical to do so. The broken ones can be contained better if they are in non-vented metal containers (55 gal drums) as H3 does not permeate metal as rapidly as plastic or rubber.
And on a positive and somewhat humorous note we have been directed, when working with H3 to use a diuretic to help flush out our system. Beer is a very effective diuretic....... LOL.
Mike
LakeBear:
My first post after nearly 14 hours of lurking:
While Mr. Marssim is probably correct, I sure do appreaciate the posts. I spend time on the site to put textbook learning into real world context. The posts probably do not help to resolve a specific tritium sign issue, but Marssim's and all the others' posts sure do help in the learning department. So PM specifics, but I like the extra vagaries.
Already Gone:
--- Quote from: Marssim on May 15, 2008, 09:26 ---I love you guys, I really do, but we're telling folks one thing after another here and leaving out key details of the job, it's why I don't respond to these questions, I PM the guys and reference them to the professionals that can help (sometimes myself),...
just off the cuff,...
what state is he in?
does that states version of the EPA have specific rules for tritium?
has he crossed the threshold from material to substance or waste for 49 CFR?
how did his on-site HAZCOM program fail him with regards to this hazard?
Treatises on the vagaries of tritium are not gonna help this guy with his issue.
He needs to be helped with what he does or does not need to get done to be in compliance with any and all legal requirements. To that end I PM'd the fella several days ago and referred him to where he could get some help. All this other stuff is just us showing off how smart we are,...
We already know we're smart, just ask us,...heheheheheheh ;)
--- End quote ---
Yes, we should all be reminded at times to ATFQ.
In this case, TFQ was: "...how safe are these to be around"?
With all due respect, he didn't ask what regulations he needed to follow. He didn't ask how to characterize the waste or anything that would be regarded as technical advice.
If he is in fact the person responsible for compliance with 49CFR or state or EPA regs; if it is his job to deal with these items in any way, we are really not the people to ask, and it wouldn't be fair of him to rely on us - rather than a formal training course and a set of procedures - to help him solve this problem.
But, instead, he is a regular guy who has a question about something in his workplace and a concern about the safe handling of these things. I think that those of us who actually read the question did a fine job in providing the answer to the question and not sending him off to actually do someone else's job.
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