The 3H-3He atomic mass difference from mass spectrometry requires no correction for the metastable 22S1/2 state of 3He+

Several direct measurements of the 3H-3He mass difference have been performed by mass spectrometric techniques. It has been suggested that, if a small fraction of the 3He+ ions were in the metastable excited state 2 2S1/2, the mass difference as determined by mass spectrometry would be shifted to a lower value than those from complementary techniques. It is shown here that, for all of the mass spectrometric determinations carried out so far, the effect of such a contamination is negligible. (orig.)