Something strange is going on at Wal-Mart. It started with a few stores reporting missing exit signs which led to an audit of all 4,500 U.S. and Puerto Rico stores. What was discovered was that more than 15,800 exit signs are unexplicably missing. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that Wal-Mart's exit signs contain tritium, a radioactive gas.Though tritium is not hazardous externally, it can easily be ingested and bonds easily with water. Low levels are considered safe but ingesting 5% of the tritium in one of these signs is the equivelant of 208 years of natural background radiation.
In addition to glow-in-the-dark exit signs, Tritium is also used to make nuclear weapons. 15,800 signs could not only infect a water source but create a large explosion. It might be time for Wal-Mart to take a look at their record keeping and consider using non-nuclear store fixtures from here on out.
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