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Tritiated water is a form of water
Water (molecule)

File:Blue-water-pool.jpgWater is the most abundant molecule on Earth's surface, constituting about 70% of the Earth's surface in liquid, solid, and gaseous states....
 where the usual hydrogen atoms are replaced with tritium
Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The atomic nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of Hydrogen atom contains one proton and no neutrons....
. In its pure form it may be called tritium oxide (T2O or 3H2O) or super-heavy water. Pure T2O is corrosive due to self-radiolysis
Radiolysis

Radiolysis is the Dissociation of molecules by radiation. It is the cleavage of one or several chemical bonds resulting from exposure to high-energy flux....
. Diluted, tritiated water is mainly H2O plus some HTO (3HOH). It is also used as a tracer for water transport studies in life-science research.






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Tritiated water is a form of water
Water (molecule)

File:Blue-water-pool.jpgWater is the most abundant molecule on Earth's surface, constituting about 70% of the Earth's surface in liquid, solid, and gaseous states....
 where the usual hydrogen atoms are replaced with tritium
Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The atomic nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of Hydrogen atom contains one proton and no neutrons....
. In its pure form it may be called tritium oxide (T2O or 3H2O) or super-heavy water. Pure T2O is corrosive due to self-radiolysis
Radiolysis

Radiolysis is the Dissociation of molecules by radiation. It is the cleavage of one or several chemical bonds resulting from exposure to high-energy flux....
. Diluted, tritiated water is mainly H2O plus some HTO (3HOH). 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
Heavy water

Heavy water is water that contains a higher proportion than normal of the isotope deuterium, as deuterium oxide, D2O or ?H2O, or as deuterium protium oxide, HDO or ?H?HO....
, which is deuterium oxide.

Applications

Tritiated water can be used to measure the total volume of water in one's body
Body water

In medicine, body water is all of the water content of the human body. A significant fraction of the human body is water. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water....
. Tritiated water distributes itself into all body compartments relatively quickly. The concentration of tritiated water in urine
Urine

Urine is a liquid waste product of the body secreted by the kidneys by a process of filtration from blood called urination and excreted through the urethra....
 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)