tritium reading light?

DOH!!!

Let me rephrase that...

What is your experience with the tritium reading lights? Someone had recommended Trasers, but they seem really dim. I'm looking for something to use for a reading lamp during power outages, and would like to avoid open flames.
 
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Remember tritium is radioactive. Here's a few quotes from Mustardman, a physicist, here on the forums about tritium. If you notice most of the brighter map reading lights from the Google search are not importable to the US. I'm guessing there is a good reason for this.:eek::eek:

The glow isn't the tritium at all - it's a fluorescent coating on the inside of the little tubes. Different coatings yield different colors. The tritium is just the source of excitation. In other words, it's the energy source.
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As I said, the trace amounts of tritium in these things are so low that our current understanding of radiation tells us they should probably be harmless....


But the concept still gives me the heebie jeebies.
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The primary radiation given off during tritium's decay is electrons. These electrons excite the molecules in the coating on the tubes and cause them to fluoresce. However, some electrons certainly pass through the coating without interacting, where they are most likely scattered by the casing. During that scattering process, x-rays are the most likely radiation to be released, meaning you are probably taking a small but constant dose of x-rays from those tubes.



Sealing something in plastic rarely does much to block radiation... The bet on the tritium glow devices is that there is so little radiation that it's probably not harmful, and not that sealing the device blocks the rads.
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I've worked with tritium. I have a deep knowledge of the process of radioactive decay in tritium. I've carried out experiments with FAR more dangerous radioactive materials. I know from a scientific standpoint that the minute amounts of tritium in these perma-glow devices are harmless...


Yet that doesn't prevent me from being weirded out about the idea of strapping a little vial of radioactive gas to my body.
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Here's another link http://www.blackcatsystems.com/science/radprod.html

Tritium Glow Lights


Tritium (heavy hydrogen with two neutrons) is radioactive, emitting beta particles with a low energy of 18 keV, and having a 12 year half life. besides being useful when building hydrogen bombs, it also has numerous other applications.
A variety of items are sold containing tritium and phosphors, which glow in the dark. Examples include compasses, wristwatches, and glow in the dark keychains, as well as emergency exit signs. The tritium betas excite the phosphors, causing them to glow with visible light. A few microns of plastic is sufficient to block the betas, so the items are quite safe. Unless you were to open one, I guess. Some of thse things have several curies of tritium in them. I don't know what the health effects would be of exposure. Probably not as bad as from the phosphors!

Update! They may not be quite so safe... I decided to place one on a pancake GM detector. The readings went from 55 CPM background to about 210 CM. I then removed the actual glass tube (with the tritium and phosphors) from the plastic holder, and the reading jumped to about 690 CPM. I suspect that the betas are hitting the glass, and creating x-rays, with a peak energy of 18 keV. The plastic absorbs most, but not all, of them.
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jonesjp@surry.net said:
DOH!!!

Let me rephrase that...

What is your experience with the tritium reading lights? Someone had recommended Trasers, but they seem really dim. I'm looking for something to use for a reading lamp during power outages, and would like to avoid open flames.
Click to expand...

I think you would do better to obtain an LED and a few batteries.
 
hmmm. guess I should look for a good shaker or crank light.... or at a small LED, which ought to have a long battery life.

Thank you for the info on radioactivity...
 
Keep in mind, also, that Tritium lights have a limited life expectancy. Their usable life is usually about 10 years. Considering their high price (especially price-per-lumen) you pay for Tritium, it's really best used in situations where a small amount of light is needed and no electrical power (including batteries) can be used.
 
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