Dosimetric models of 3H from skin absorption following contact with T2-contaminated surfaces

Experiments with rats (Hu65) and humans (Ea75) have shown that 3H will be fixed in skin and transmitted to body fluids when intact skin is brought into contact with surfaces that have been exposed to tritiated H gas (HT or T2). Those reports indicated that the hazard associated with this route of 3H uptake was probably small in laboratories handling small quantities of T2 but could be significant when large quantities are being processed, particularly during repair or maintenance of process equipment (Hu65; Ea75). Since planned 3H extraction systems (Si80) and fusion reactor test facilities (Wo83) will be processing large quantities of T2 in the near future, it was decided to conduct a preliminary theoretical investigation of the significance of T2-contaminated surfaces in terms of dose to skin and to body tissues. This note reports the results of this investigation