Editing Tritium (section)

== Health risks ==
Since tritium is a low energy [[beta particle|beta (β) emitter]], it is not dangerous externally (its β particles cannot penetrate the skin),<ref name=physics.isu.edu-RIN-Tritium/> but it can be a radiation hazard if inhaled, ingested via food or water, or absorbed through the skin.<ref>
{{cite report
 |first=I.
 |last=Fairlie
 |date=June 2007
 |title=Tritium Hazard Report: Pollution and Radiation Risk from Canadian Nuclear Facilities
 |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/tritium-hazard-report-pollu.pdf
 |access-date=21 September 2008
 |archive-date=20 May 2010
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520210058/http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/tritium-hazard-report-pollu.pdf
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite report
 |last=Osborne |first=R.V.
 |date=August 2007
 |title=Review of the Greenpeace report: "Tritium Hazard Report: Pollution and Radiation Risk from Canadian Nuclear Facilities"
 |website=nuclearfaq.ca
 |url=http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/ReviewofGreenpeacereport_Final.pdf
}}
</ref><ref name=US-NRC-Trit-Bkg/><ref>
{{cite report
 |title=Tritium Facts and Information
 |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
 |url=http://www.dep.state.pa.us/brp/Radiation_Control_Division/Tritium.htm
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515162757/http://www.dep.state.pa.us/brp/Radiation_Control_Division/Tritium.htm
 |archive-date=15 May 2013
}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Travis |first=C.C. |date=1984 |title=Metabolism of organically-bound tritium |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/16/045/16045522.pdf?r=1 |journal=Oak Ridge National Laboratory |via=IAEA}}</ref>

Organisms can take up {{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO, as they would H{{sub|2}}O.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bhatia |first=A.L. |date=2005 |title=Impact of low-level radiation with special reference to tritium in environment |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/36/113/36113778.pdf?r=1 |journal=ISRE04. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Radiation Education |via=IAEA}}</ref> Plants convert {{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO into organically bound tritium (OBT), and are consumed by animals. {{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO is retained in humans for around 12 days, with a small portion of it remaining in the body.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Van Den Hoek |first1=J. |last2=Gerber |first2=G.B. |last3=Kirchmann |first3=R. |date=1986 |title=Similarities and differences in the transfer of Tritium and Carbon-14 along the food chain |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/17/054/17054687.pdf?r=1 |journal=Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Nuclear Facilities |via=IAEA}}</ref> Tritium can be passed along the food chain as one organism feeds on another, though the metabolism of OBT is less understood than that of {{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO.<ref name=":0" /> Tritium can incorporate to [[RNA]] and [[DNA]] molecules within organisms which can lead to somatic and genetic impacts. These can emerge in later generations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Šimek |first1=Dalibor |last2=Dubšek |first2=Frantisek |date=1997 |title=Tritium in liquid releases on nuclear power plants with VVER and PWR reactors and some ways to solutions of its reduction |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/29/006/29006324.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Safety and Reliability Systems of PWRS and VVERs |via=IAEA}}</ref>

{{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO has a short [[Biological half-life#Water|biological half-life]] in the human body of 7 to 14&nbsp;days, which both reduces the total effects of single-incident ingestion and precludes long-term [[bioaccumulation]] of {{nuclide|hydrogen|3}}HO from the environment.<ref name="US-NRC-Trit-Bkg" /><ref name="j1">
{{cite journal 
 | last1 = Singh   | first1 = V. P. 
 | last2 = Pai     | first2 = R. K. 
 | last3 = Veerender | first3 = D. D. 
 | last4 = Vishnu  | first4 = M. S. 
 | last5 = Vijayan | first5 = P. 
 | last6 = Managanvi | first6 = S. S. 
 | last7 = Badiger | first7 = N. M. 
 | last8 = Bhat    | first8 = H. R. 
 | year = 2010 
 | title = Estimation of biological half-life of tritium in coastal region of India 
 | journal = Radiation Protection Dosimetry 
 | volume = 142  | issue = 2–4  | pages = 153–159 
 | pmid = 20870665   | doi = 10.1093/rpd/ncq219 
}}
</ref> The biological half-life of tritiated water in the human body, which is a measure of body water turn-over, varies with the season. Studies on the biological half-life of occupational radiation workers for free water tritium in a coastal region of [[Karnataka]], India, show that the biological half-life in winter is twice that of the summer.<ref name="j1" /> If tritium exposure is suspected or known, drinking uncontaminated water will help replace the tritium from the body. Increasing sweating, urination or breathing can help the body expel water and thereby the tritium contained in it. However, care should be taken that neither [[dehydration]] nor a depletion of the body's [[electrolytes]] results, as the [[Water intoxication|health consequences of those things]] (particularly in the short term) can be more severe than those of tritium exposure.