Dear Friends:

Ontario's drinking water standard for tritium is currently under review by the Ontario
Drinking Water Advisory Council (ODWAC). Members of the public are invited to tell
the Council what they think of Ontario's current standard (of 7,000 Bq/l). This is a
very important opportunity to have input into a policy decision that will
profoundly affect current and future generations of Ontarions. Please, if you
can possibly find a half hour in your schedule this week to this, send a short
message to the Council, stating that the current drinking water standard for tritium
is unacceptable.

For your information, a sample letter is pasted below, which you could use as is, or
modify. Further down, below the sample letter are points about tritium's health
hazards that could be added to the sample letter if you wish. The deadline for
submissions to reach the Council is this coming Friday, March 28, 2008. The
easiest way to submit your input is by email to Scott Barrett
<Scott.Barrett@ontario.ca>. If you would like to send your input by fax or regular
mail, please call Scott Barrett at 416-212-7596 for the necessary numbers/mailing
address.

More information about the tritium consultation is available at the ODWAC website
www.odwac.gov.on.ca/ ... Several background documents on tritium are posted at
www.odwac.gov.on.ca/standards_review/tritium/tritium.htm N.B. Please beware
of the document prepared by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission entitled
"Standards and Guidelines for Tritium in Drinking Water", a link to which is posted
twice on the ODWAC website. This document is very misleading and clearly
illustrates the CNSC's incompetence to protect the Canadian public from adverse
health effects of exposure to radiation. Dr. Rosalie Bertell's 13-page submission to
the ODWAC is largely a thorough critique of this CNSC document. Here is the
concluding statement from Dr. Bertell's submission:
--In conclusion, the document is both self-congratulatory and
deceptive, using WHO 2004 to appear to have considered public health while
adhering to its inappropriate 7000 Bq/L guideline for tritium in drinking
water, based only on ICRP philosophy. The document is neither honest nor
scientific from the point of view of public health. It is rather seriously
and likely deliberately deceptive! (emphasis added)
Please feel free to email me if you would like any additional information or if you
would like to see some of the submissions which have been sent in by others.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Best wishes,
Lynn

SAMPLE LETTER
To: Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council (ODWAC)
Attn: Scott Barrett, Secretary, e-mail: scott.barrett@ontario.ca

Re: Tightening Ontario Tritium Standards

Dear Mr. Barrett,

I would like to express my strong support for the reduction and eventual elimination
of
radioactive tritium emissions in Ontario.

There are three broad issues I believe ODWAC should address in making its
recommendations to government on tritium standards:

First, at minimum ODWAC should reiterate the recommendations of

Advisory Council on Environmental Standards (ACES) on tritium.

As you are aware, the current Ontario Drinking Water Objective for tritium is
7,000 becquerels per litre (Bq/L). In 1994, ACES recommended immediate adoption

of a 100 Bq/L standard, reduced to 20 Bq/L within five years, but the government
of the day ignored the committee’s recommendations due to pressure from the
nuclear industry.

Second, ODWAC should adopt the precautionary principle in any recommendation it

makes to government. That is to say, the committee should err on the side of
caution when assessing the hazards of tritium emissions.

Third, Ontario should strive to eliminate risks to the environment and human
health. Therefore, ODWAC should recommend the goal of zero discharge of
radioactive tritium.

Thank you for your attention on this matter.

Yours truly,

Facts about tritium from a fact sheet prepared by

Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and the Canadian
Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, November 2006

Medical or “health” effects of tritium and Canada’s lax standards

• Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are the basic building blocks of organic matter
– what all living things are made of.

• Tritium, as a radioactive form of hydrogen, combines with oxygen to form

radioactive water (tritiated water) which enters freely into all living things.

• Tritium, as a radioactive form of hydrogen, becomes incorporated into organic

matter as “organically-bound tritium” (OBT). In this form, it can remain
within living organism for months or years.
• There is evidence that tritium adheres to genetic material (DNA molecules),
where its radioactivity poses special risks of causing cancer and genetic
damage.

• Exposure to tritium has been shown to cause miscarriages, birth defects,

permanent genetic damage and a host of other health problems in laboratory
animals.

• International standards originally regulated all radioisotopes based on their

energy. These standards allowed exposure to very high levels of tritium
because its beta particle is less energetic than other forms of atomic
radiation. However, the biological harm caused by tritium exposure is at
least15 times greater than would be expected from its energy alone.

• Most jurisdictions have gone beyond current international standards, and are
tightening standards for acceptable levels of tritium based on scientific
evidence of its risks. For example, the European Union standard for tritium in
drinking water is 100 becquerels per liter, and in California a limit of 15
becquerels per liter is being considered.

• Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Nuclear Safety

Commission has acted to limit tritium exposure. Ottawa has only set a
voluntary guideline of 7000 becquerels per liter for drinking water; that level
is used as a regulatory standard in Ontario.

• A scientific advisory committee (ACES) to the Government of Ontario

recommended in 1994 that the Ontario standard be reduced to 100 Bq/L
immediately, and then to 20 Bq/L after five years; this is 350 times more
stringent than current Ontario regulations.

• Toronto City Council, at the urging of the city’s Medical Officer of Health,
passed a resolution in July 2006, endorsing this (ACES) recommendation to
dramatically tighten the tritium standards for drinking water.