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Originally posted by captaintyinknots
But hey, it's only SLIGHTLY radioactive-I'm sure it's perfectly good for you!
K-40 occurs in natural potassium (and thus in some commercial salt substitutes) in sufficient quantity that large bags of those substitutes can be used as a radioactive source for classroom demonstrations. In healthy animals and people, K-40 represents the largest source of radioactivity, greater even than C-14. In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of K-40 decay per second.
Originally posted by buddhasystem
Originally posted by captaintyinknots
But hey, it's only SLIGHTLY radioactive-I'm sure it's perfectly good for you!
I hate to break it to you, but your environment is already radioactive, from Radon gas in your basement coming from concrete, to cosmic rays to potassium in your own body:
K-40 occurs in natural potassium (and thus in some commercial salt substitutes) in sufficient quantity that large bags of those substitutes can be used as a radioactive source for classroom demonstrations. In healthy animals and people, K-40 represents the largest source of radioactivity, greater even than C-14. In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of K-40 decay per second.
So stop panicking and accept the Universe for what it is. In addition, the half0life of tritium is 12 years, so it'll all go away pretty soon.
Originally posted by buddhasystem
So stop panicking and accept the Universe for what it is. In addition, the half0life of tritium is 12 years, so it'll all go away pretty soon.
Originally posted by captaintyinknots
Perhaps you should read the source before making snide comments. Couple of short quotes:
"a new well drilled on Air Force land contained tritium at about 12,500 picocuries per liter"
As an example, assume that a residential drinking water well sample contains tritium at the level of 1,600 picocuries per liter (a comparable tritium level was identified in a drinking water well near the Braidwood Station nuclear facility). The radiation dose from drinking water at this level for a full year is characterized as follows (using EPA assumptions):
* at least ten thousand times lower than the dose from a medical procedure involving a full-body computed tomography (CT) scan (e.g., 3,000 to 10,000 mrem from a CT scan vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated drinking water)
* one thousand times lower than the dose from natural background radiation (e.g., 300 mrem from natural background radiation vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)
* one hundred times lower than the dose from either dental x-rays or natural radioactivity (potassium) in your body (e.g., 30 mrem from potassium vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)
* ten times lower than a round-trip cross-country airplane flight (e.g., 3 mrem from New York to Los Angeles and back vs. 0.3 mrem from tritiated water)