Tritiated water
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Tritiated water is a form of water where the usual hydrogen atoms are replaced with tritium. It is also called tritium oxide, or T2O or 3H2O. It is radioactive, and used to make self-illuminating devices called trasers. It is also used as a tracer for water transport studies in life-science research. Furthermore, since it naturally occurs in minute quantities, it can be used to determine the age of various water-based liquids, such as vintage wines.
It should not be confused with heavy water, which is deuterium oxide.
[edit] Life-science applications
Tritiated water can be used to measure the total volume of water in one's body. Tritiated water distributes itself into all body compartments relatively quickly. The concentration of tritiated water in urine is assumed to be similar to the concentration of tritiated water in the body. Knowing the original amount of tritiated water that was ingested and the concentration, one can calculate the volume of water in the body.
Amount of tritiated water (mg) = Concentration of tritiated water (mg/ml) x Volume of body water (ml)
Volume of body water (ml) = [Amount of tritiated water (mg) - Amount excreted (mg)] / Concentration of tritiated water (mg/ml)
[edit] Material Safety Data Sheet
The handling of this chemical may incur notable safety precautions. It is highly recommend that you seek the Material Safety Datasheet (MSDS) for this chemical from a reliable source such as SIRI, and follow its directions.
[edit] External links
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