Evening star., 1953-06-26
Base of H-Bomb Used
To Learn Age Of Wines
PotentioIities Of Tritium
In Industry Are Promising
BY Thomos R. Henry

Tritium, the radioactive triple-weight
hydrogen which is the base for the pro-
posed hydrogen bomb. promises to have
many other uSeS-Such as determining
the age of wine or of canned vegetables.
University of Chicago physicists now
are studying these potentialities under
the leadership Of DR.. Willard F. Libby.
co-discoverer Of the element in nature.
All the tritium on earth is produced
by bombardment of nitrogen atoms in
the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays.
1t is brought to the earth's surface in
rain. Half of any amount of the ma
terial present at any one time will SEX
plode" in approximately 12l2 years.
DR.. Libby's researches have shown
that rainwater which has received no
extra tritium for 1914 years will con-
tain one atom Of tritium for every bill
lion atoms of ordinary hydrogen.
Now. plants depend chiefly on rain
water. Therefore, by measuring the
amount of tritium in plant product
it should be possible to tell how long
ago it was harvested. This would apply,
for example, to wine. 1t should be
possible to tell, within year or two.
the season when the grapes from which
the wine is made were picked. DR.. Libby
now is testing water Of known age and
French and American wines of known
vintage years to establish a practical
scale for determining such dates. The
same technique should apply to such
products as flour or canned or frozen
foods.
Other Proposed Uses.
It should be possible to analyze water
in wells or reservoirs and determine
it's age within a range of about three
years. Thus it can be determined how
recently the water originated as rain
fall and how the supply is subject to
seasonal variations.
In meteorology, tritium could be used
to detect the mixing Of air at various
levels based on the known production
of the element at different attitudes.
Maximum production occurs at an
altitude of about miles. Very little
originates below miles. The produc-
ton is apparently four times greater
at Latitude SO degrees North than at
the Equator. Thus the amount of trit-
ium an air sample contains will vary,
depending on where the air came from.
It also should reveal sources OF
moisture in the air. Ocean water, for
example, is poor in tritium because re-
cent rains have been diluted with
large volume of old water. Water from
inland lakes and rivers, on the other
hand, tends to have much larger trit-
ium content. Thus measurements OF
the moisture in a moving air mass
should indicate whether it has been
picked up over the sea or in a1r-mass
movements over the land.
Delicate Techniques.
All this depends. DR.. Libby points
out, on the possibility of standardizing
very delicate techniques. 1t may be
necessary to detect one atom of the
exploding gas among as many as 10
quintillion atoms of ordinary hydrogen.
In the process, the water to be analyzed
is electrolyzed until only fraction OF
a teaspoonful is left out of about 80
gallons. The radiation in this re-
mainder is counted by special tech
niques DR.. Libby has developed.
If the techniques can be perfected.
DR.. Libby says, man-made tritium
should prove extremely useful in in
dustry. Its half life is ideal for counting
purposes, unlike the 5,000-year half life
of Carbon IA which now is being used
extensively to date organic remains,
such as the linen shrouds around Egyp-
tian mummies and skulls of ancient
men. This technique also was per-
fected by Dr. Libby and has become
one of the most valuable tools Of
anthropology.
The tritium count presumably would
be worthless for determining ages
greater than IS years.