Abstract
Estimated doses resulting from tritium releases to the environment are linearly dependent upon the quality factor (Q) chosen for tritium beta radiation. In 1969 the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended using 1 as the Q for all low energy beta radiation. Considerable improvements have been made in evaluating exposures to tritium at very low dose rates and in refining physiological and biological endpoints since the 1969 ICRP recommendations. This study summarizes recent experiments to determine the relative biological effectiveness of tritium. Based upon our study of published data related to quality factor, its importance in the calculation of dose, and the currently accepted conservative philosophy in radiation protection, it is concluded that a value of 2 would seem to be more defensible for environmental assessments and that a reevaluation of the tritium quality factor by the ICRP is needed.
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