WHERE ARE THE TRITIUM SPHERES?!?!

August 14, 2009 12:03 PM

Who regularly sells 10-18mm tritium spheres (pictured at bottom), and where can I buy them reliably?

For the past six years or so I've seen group-buys on flashlight forums for tritium spheres. They are basically a plastic/resin shell, somewhat lens-like, filled with tritium gas. Simple tritium fobs, sometimes called "Trasers," are relatively easy to find--but I have never seen an actual site selling tritium spheres. The design hasn't changed, which leads me to believe there is a constant supply of these spheres going somewhere for some purpose that is not readily apparent. (Tritium fobs are basically safe radioactive gas sealed inside a vial coated with material that glows when it is hit by radioation. They glow in the dark without the need for external light, for a minimum of ten years and possibly far longer.)

You can see the product in a group-buy image here. They are the glowing spheres near the top. My question is, WHERE are they coming from? I have seen them for sale in forums and nowhere else. I don't think some dude could make them in his basement, you need industrial equipment (and at least moderately pressurized/sealed tritium gas) to form clear plastics like that.

I never catch wind of the group buys on time and I'd rather not offend the poster (he is a mod there) by asking for his source (to circumvent him, basically.) In fact I wouldn't mention his thread at all if I could find any other links to them. Does anyone know where the heck these things are available?

posted by Phyltre to technology (14 comments total)

I recall reading that it is illegal to import radioactive material into the US, but that there were special exceptions for small trasers in watches and gun sights.

I found one guy in a forum selling spheres, but he is in the Netherlands.

Proceed cautiously...
posted by gregr at 12:56 PM on August 14

That's the group-buy I was referring to earlier, gregr. He's out and I've already asked him to no effect.
posted by Phyltre at 1:02 PM on August 14

This is interesting, I did a little looking a found one lead for you.

The Isolite Corporation markets and distributes tritium signs made by The Safety Light Corporation.

Here is a link to what claims to be the Safety Light Corporation website. Right now there is only an email address and a phone number there, but you could email them and ask if they also make spheres and if so where you can buy them.

More background on the Safety Light Corporation: They are an offshoot of the US Radium Corporation and in the last couple years cleaning up one of their sites cost about 100 million dollars. There is some really interesting information from the NRC here.
posted by pseudonick at 1:12 PM on August 14

FYI: the gas is only "safe" as long as it's in the sealed container, because the decay particles won't go deep into the skin. But should the gas escape and is breathed in, it would be bad news for the inhaler.
posted by buzzv at 1:18 PM on August 14

buzzv, that is false. I researched this years ago and the radiation involved just isn't that potent. Deliberately breaking an entire tritium safety exit sign, jamming in your head, and inhaling heavily for five minutes gives you a radiation dose equal to a single dentist's x-ray. The amount of gas in a keychain vial is obviously much smaller. A simple google search for "tritium gas safety" will yield lots of sources for that.
posted by Phyltre at 1:26 PM on August 14

Might the betalight devices described here be what you're looking for?

And tritium is a very weak beta emitter that would pass through the body very quickly, you'd get a very low dose even if you inhaled the contents of one of these spheres (recommended treatment: 6 pack of beer (bunch of hydrogen in, bunch of hydrogen out))
posted by pseudonick at 1:26 PM on August 14

This should be what you're looking for: http://www.unitednuclear.com/traser.htm
posted by doorsfan at 1:47 PM on August 14

doorsfan, as I explained in the opening post, I am looking for the spheres rather than the fobs. Thanks for the help though. Pseudonick, you may have found the forum guy's supplier! I'm going to try and get in touch with them.
posted by Phyltre at 1:59 PM on August 14

Tritium biological hazard and dosimetry:

ABSTRACT. Exposure to tritium mainly results from intakes of tritiated water. It is characterized in the metabolism by complete and rapid absorption and by mainly urinary excretion over a period of several weeks. The risk of acute pathological effects, notably on the blood cells, only exists in the event of extremely serious accidents involving the release of very large quantities of tritiated water.

though it does have a section on inhalation exposure down below.

To think that the Nazis invaded Norway for the sake of this stuff, and now we make keychains out of it.
posted by XMLicious at 2:15 PM on August 14

Hi Pseudonick.
You and Phyltre seem pretty comfortable with the risk of exposure - but can I counsel caution?
I think Tritium emits alpha and beta particles and if the H3 gets into your lungs the alpha emitted could cause some damage. I would want to be really careful.
I did some tritium cleanup once and it involved breathing filters and obsessive attention to any broken glass/metal that had been in contact with the stuff.
Just my tuppence.
posted by fingerbang at 2:45 PM on August 14

Re: Tritium Hazards / fingerbang

So I was way way off.

Tritium is definitely not an alpha emitter. An alpha particle is much larger than an atom of tritium. Tritium's beta energies are in the 10's of keV. This is not enough energy to penetrate the dead skin cells that make up the uppermost layer of your skin. For this reason it is only a hazard if inhaled or ingested.

But I seem to have been totally wrong about the activities in these things. Vastly higher than I expected.

The default adult inhalation coefficient for tritium is 4.5e-11 Sv/Bq. (ICRP 72) A sign can initially contain 7.9 Ci = 300GBq of tritium (http://www.tritiumexitsigns.com/details.html)

(That's 300000000000 low energy beta particles kicked off every second)

4.5e-11 * 300e9 = 13.5 Sieverts, actually a lethal dose assuming no medical intervention. But to get a dose that high you'd have to have a freshly made sign, inhale all of the contents and not seek medical advice. So a real potential hazard, but so is a bottle of Draino if you drink it.

(sorry for the derail OP)
posted by pseudonick at 4:03 PM on August 14

Pseudonick advises, And tritium is a very weak beta emitter that would pass through the body very quickly, you'd get a very low dose even if you inhaled the contents of one of these spheres (recommended treatment: 6 pack of beer (bunch of hydrogen in, bunch of hydrogen out))

Except presumably the tritium gas is H2, and so inert. You might breathe it in, but you'd exhale it on the next outbreath, since you're not going to metabolize it. A six pack of beer might make you more relaxed about your exposure, but the hydrogen in it (from the water/H2O, presumably) isn't going to do mitigate anything.
posted by Sublimity at 7:40 PM on August 14

besides the always-awesome united nuclear, it looks like you can get them from dealextreme and gadget.brando.com among others
posted by rmd1023 at 8:13 PM on August 14

I've confirmed it, the spheres on sale at the place pseudonick ordered are the ones I am looking for.


But they cost around $150 apiece.
posted by Phyltre at 5:00 AM on August 24