Rapid tritium analysis method in seafood for dose evaluation

Abstract

We have developed a tritium screening method focused on seafood. Time saving and simplicity of tritium analysis were achieved by performing analysis as total tritium that simultaneously obtains the recovered water of TFWT and OBT. We carried out the experiment using HTO and L-leucine [4, 5 -3H], and confirmed that total tritium was sufficiently recovered. The developed method has a low detection limit and it gives us a tool to judge smoothly the annual radiation dose caused by consumption of seafood is below the guidelines authorized by international organizations, the safety level for public. The detectable radiation dose by tritium is 9.2 x 10-6 mSv/y for average consumption of seafood in Japan. This method can evaluate 2-3 orders lower dose level authorized by international organizations for public.