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On Thu, 6 Jan 2000, Jason E. Rose wrote:
> *This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
> Garret,
>
> Another interesting thing to note is that military compasses and some
> watches also use a radium paint. I had a compass in the Air Force and there
> were specific instructions to dispose of the compass if the glass was
> cracked.
> One question, though. Do the same principles apply to tritium? Seems as if
> a few years ago there was a push by the military to switch to tritium for
> some applications. I do not know if speedos were included, but tritium is
> used for night sights on some handguns.
>
> Jason
Yes. tritium is an alpha emitter and you wouldn't want any more contact
with it than necessary.
Alpha particles are usually not energetic enough to penatrate the skin.
Therefore as with the radium paint it replaced, the main danger is eating
it. But as it doesn't chemically bond to bone like radium and it would
leave the body relatively quickly if injested it's less dangerous, but why
press your luck...
Jim V.
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