Distribution of tritium in estuarine waters: the role of organic matter.

Tritium is an important environmental radionuclide whose reactivity with ligands and solids in aquatic systems is assumed to be limited. We studied the fractionation and sorption of tritium (added as tritiated water) in river water and seawater, and found that its distribution appears to be influenced by its affinity for organic matter. Tritium rapidly equilibrates with dissolved organic ligands that are retained by a reverse-phase C18 column, and with suspended sediment particles.