Deuterium-depleted water (DDW) is water which has a lower concentration of deuterium than occurs naturally at sea level on Earth.
DDW is sometimes known as light water or protium water, although "light water" has long referred to ordinary water, specifically in nuclear reactors.
Deuterium-depleted water has a lower concentration of deuterium (2H) than occurs in nature at sea level. [1] Deuterium is a naturally-occurring, stable (non-radioactive) isotope of hydrogen with a nucleus consisting of one proton and one neutron. The nucleus of normal hydrogen (protium, 1H) consists of one proton only, and no neutron. Deuterium thus has about twice the atomic mass as 1H. Heavy water consists of water molecules with two deuterium atoms instead of the two 1H atoms. The hydrogen in normal water is about 99.97% 1H (by weight). [2]
The production of heavy water involves isolating and removing deuterium-containing isotopologues within natural water. The by-product of this process is DDW. [3]
Due to the heterogeneity of hydrological conditions, the isotopic composition of natural water varies around the Earth. Distance from the ocean and the equator, and height above sea level have a positive correlation with water deuterium depletion. [4]
In Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW) that defines the isotopic composition of seawater, deuterium occurs at a concentration of 155.76 ppm. [5] For the SLAP (Standard Light Antarctic Precipitation) standard that determines the isotopic composition of natural water from the Antarctic, the concentration of deuterium is 89.02 ppm. [6]
Snow water, especially from glacial mountain meltwater, is significantly lighter than ocean water. Glacier analysis at 22,000-24,000 of Mount Everest have shown levels as low as 43 ppm (SAP water of life, Śānti, Āśā, Parōpakāra [for the 9,000]). The weight quantities of isotopologues in natural water are calculated on the basis of the data collected using molecular spectroscopy: [7] [8]
Isotopologue | Molecular mass | Content, g/kg | |
---|---|---|---|
VSMOW | SLAP | ||
1H216O | 18.01056470 | 997.032536356 | 997.317982662 |
1H2H16O | 19.01684144 | 0.328000097 | 0.187668379 |
2H216O | 20.02311819 | 0.000026900 | 0.000008804 |
1H217O | 19.01478127 | 0.411509070 | 0.388988825 |
1H2H17O | 20.02105801 | 0.000134998 | 0.000072993 |
2H217O | 21.02733476 | 0.000000011 | 0.000000003 |
1H218O | 20.01481037 | 2.227063738 | 2.104884332 |
1H2H18O | 21.02108711 | 0.000728769 | 0.000393984 |
2H218O | 22.02736386 | 0.000000059 | 0.000000018 |
According to the table above, the weight concentration of heavy isotopologues in natural water can reach 2.97 g/kg, which is mostly due to 1H218O, i.e. water with light hydrogen and heavy oxygen. Also, there are ~300 mg of deuterium-containing isotopologues per liter of water. This presents a significant value comparable, for example, with the content of mineral salts. [9]
Gilbert N. Lewis was the first to discover that heavy water inhibits (retards) seed growth (1933). His experiments with tobacco seeds showed that cultivation of cells on heavy water dramatically accelerates the aging process and leads to lethal results. [10]
Deuterium-depleted water can be produced in laboratories and factories. Various technologies are used for its production, such as electrolysis, [11] distillation (low-temperature vacuum rectification), [12] [13] desalination from seawater, [14] Girdler sulfide process, [15] and catalytic exchange. [16]
Harriet Hall investigated health claims being attributed to drinking DDW, which has been sold for as much as $20 per liter. In a July 2020 article published at Skeptical Inquirer online, she reported that the overwhelming majority of DDW studies, despite showing positive outcomes, did not involve humans, and the few that did, did not verify any human efficacy. [17]
Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol 2H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other is protium, or hydrogen-1). The deuterium nucleus, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more common protium has no neutrons in the nucleus. Deuterium has a natural abundance in Earth's oceans of about one atom of deuterium among every 6,420 atoms of hydrogen (see heavy water). Thus deuterium accounts for about 0.0156% by number (0.0312% by mass) of all hydrogen in the oceans: 4.85×1013 tonnes of deuterium – mainly in form of HOD (or 1HO2H or 1H2HO) and only rarely in form of D2O (or 2H2O) – in 1.4×1018 tonnes of water. The abundance of deuterium changes slightly from one kind of natural water to another (see Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water).
Heavy water is a form of water whose hydrogen atoms are all deuterium rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope that makes up most of the hydrogen in normal water. The presence of the heavier isotope gives the water different nuclear properties, and the increase in mass gives it slightly different physical and chemical properties when compared to normal water.
Semiheavy water is the result of replacing one of the protium in light water with deuterium. It exists whenever there is water with light hydrogen (protium, 1H) and deuterium (D or 2H) in the mix. This is because hydrogen atoms (hydrogen-1 and deuterium) are rapidly exchanged between water molecules. Water containing 50% H and 50% D in its hydrogen contains about 50% HDO and 25% each of H2O and D2O, in dynamic equilibrium. In regular water, about 1 molecule in 3,200 is HDO (one hydrogen in 6,400 is D). By comparison, heavy water D2O occurs at a proportion of about 1 molecule in 41 million (i.e., one in 6,4002). This makes semiheavy water far more common than "normal" heavy water.
The Girdler sulfide (GS) process, also known as the Geib–Spevack (GS) process, is an industrial production method for filtering out of natural water the heavy water (deuterium oxide = D2O) which is used in particle research, in deuterium NMR spectroscopy, deuterated solvents for proton NMR spectroscopy, in heavy water nuclear reactors (as a coolant and moderator) and in deuterated drugs.
In physical organic chemistry, a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is the change in the reaction rate of a chemical reaction when one of the atoms in the reactants is replaced by one of its isotopes. Formally, it is the ratio of rate constants for the reactions involving the light (kL) and the heavy (kH) isotopically substituted reactants (isotopologues):
Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW) is an isotopic standard for water, that is, a particular sample of water whose proportions of different isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen are accurately known. VSMOW is distilled from ocean water and does not contain salt or other impurities. Published and distributed by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency in 1968, the standard and its essentially identical successor, VSMOW2, continue to be used as a reference material.
Hydrogen (1H) has three naturally occurring isotopes, sometimes denoted 1
H
, 2
H
, and 3
H
. 1
H
and 2
H
are stable, while 3
H
has a half-life of 12.32(2) years. Heavier isotopes also exist, all of which are synthetic and have a half-life of less than one zeptosecond (10−21 s). Of these, 5
H
is the least stable, while 7
H
is the most.
In chemistry, isotopologues are molecules that differ only in their isotopic composition. They have the same chemical formula and bonding arrangement of atoms, but at least one atom has a different number of neutrons than the parent.
Kinetic fractionation is an isotopic fractionation process that separates stable isotopes from each other by their mass during unidirectional processes. Biological processes are generally unidirectional and are very good examples of "kinetic" isotope reactions. All organisms preferentially use lighter isotopic species, because "energy costs" are lower, resulting in a significant fractionation between the substrate (heavier) and the biologically mediated product (lighter). As an example, photosynthesis preferentially takes up the light isotope of carbon 12C during assimilation of an atmospheric CO2 molecule. This kinetic isotope fractionation explains why plant material (and thus fossil fuels, which are derived from plants) is typically depleted in 13C by 25 per mil (2.5 per cent) relative to most inorganic carbon on Earth.
Proton nuclear magnetic resonance is the application of nuclear magnetic resonance in NMR spectroscopy with respect to hydrogen-1 nuclei within the molecules of a substance, in order to determine the structure of its molecules. In samples where natural hydrogen (H) is used, practically all the hydrogen consists of the isotope 1H.
In chemistry, the hydron, informally called proton, is the cationic form of atomic hydrogen, represented with the symbol H+
. The general term "hydron", endorsed by IUPAC, encompasses cations of hydrogen regardless of isotope: thus it refers collectively to protons (1H+) for the protium isotope, deuterons (2H+ or D+) for the deuterium isotope, and tritons (3H+ or T+) for the tritium isotope.
Deuterated benzene (C6D6) is an isotopologue of benzene (C6H6) in which the hydrogen atom ("H") is replaced with deuterium (heavy hydrogen) isotope ("D").
HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database is a compilation of spectroscopic parameters used to simulate and analyze the transmission and emission of light in gaseous media, with an emphasis on planetary atmospheres. The knowledge of spectroscopic parameters for transitions between energy levels in molecules is essential for interpreting and modeling the interaction of radiation (light) within different media.
Hydrogen deuteride is an isotopologue of dihydrogen composed of two isotopes of hydrogen: the majority isotope 1H (protium) and 2H (deuterium). Its proper molecular formula is 1H2H, but for simplification, it is usually written as HD.
The mass recorded by a mass spectrometer can refer to different physical quantities depending on the characteristics of the instrument and the manner in which the mass spectrum is displayed.
Water is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "universal solvent" and the "solvent of life". It is the most abundant substance on the surface of Earth and the only common substance to exist as a solid, liquid, and gas on Earth's surface. It is also the third most abundant molecule in the universe.
Hydrogen isotope biogeochemistry is the scientific study of biological, geological, and chemical processes in the environment using the distribution and relative abundance of hydrogen isotopes. There are two stable isotopes of hydrogen, protium 1H and deuterium 2H, which vary in relative abundance on the order of hundreds of permil. The ratio between these two species can be considered the hydrogen isotopic fingerprint of a substance. Understanding isotopic fingerprints and the sources of fractionation that lead to variation between them can be applied to address a diverse array of questions ranging from ecology and hydrology to geochemistry and paleoclimate reconstructions. Since specialized techniques are required to measure natural hydrogen isotope abundance ratios, the field of hydrogen isotope biogeochemistry provides uniquely specialized tools to more traditional fields like ecology and geochemistry.
Position-specific isotope analysis, also called site-specific isotope analysis, is a branch of isotope analysis aimed at determining the isotopic composition of a particular atom position in a molecule. Isotopes are elemental variants with different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, thereby having different atomic masses. Isotopes are found in varying natural abundances depending on the element; their abundances in specific compounds can vary from random distributions due to environmental conditions that act on the mass variations differently. These differences in abundances are called "fractionations," which are characterized via stable isotope analysis.
Methane clumped isotopes are methane molecules that contain two or more rare isotopes. Methane (CH4) contains two elements, carbon and hydrogen, each of which has two stable isotopes. For carbon, 98.9% are in the form of carbon-12 (12C) and 1.1% are carbon-13 (13C); while for hydrogen, 99.99% are in the form of protium (1H) and 0.01% are deuterium (2H or D). Carbon-13 (13C) and deuterium (2H or D) are rare isotopes in methane molecules. The abundance of the clumped isotopes provides information independent from the traditional carbon or hydrogen isotope composition of methane molecules.
Isotope effect is observed when molecules containing heavier isotopes of the same elements are engaged in a chemical reaction at a slower rate. Deuterium-reinforced lipids can be used for the protection of living cells by slowing the chain reaction of lipid peroxidation. The lipid bilayer of the cell and organelle membranes contain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are key components of cell and organelle membranes. Any process that either increases oxidation of PUFAs or hinders their ability to be replaced can lead to serious disease. Correspondingly, drugs that stop the chain reaction of lipid peroxidation have preventive and therapeutic potential.