# Did the hydrogen in my body come from the Big Bang? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824 "2010-08-20T03:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/1 "2010-08-20T03:18:39Z")
Which, if it did, would imply that all hydrogen did but I’m only concerned with “mine”. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/2 "2010-08-20T03:38:29Z")
Everything in the universe came from the Big Bang. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/3 "2010-08-20T03:45:29Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Everything in the universe came from the Big Bang. Yes, I understand that. I also understand that elements heavier than Beryllium didn’t form until later. I’m just wondering if hydrogen could be formed later as well. ---
**Author:** ![ethansiegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@ethansiegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethansiegel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/4 "2010-08-20T03:48:38Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Which, if it did, would imply that all hydrogen did but I’m only concerned with “mine”. The only place _other_ than the Big Bang that produces protons (the nucleus of most hydrogen) are some rare radioactive decays and fission reactions, along with some high energy processes that produce proton-antiproton pairs. There are also some very rare nuclear reactions that produce deuterium (such as in very, very low mass stars), but it’s not a stretch to say that more than 99.9% of the hydrogen in your body comes – untarnished by any further processing – from the Big Bang. (I am an astrophysicist.) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/5 "2010-08-20T03:59:18Z")
> [@ethansiegel](#): > > The only place _other_ than the Big Bang that produces protons (the nucleus of most hydrogen) are some rare radioactive decays and fission reactions, along with some high energy processes that produce proton-antiproton pairs. But those heavy radioactive elements come ultimately from ancient fusion reactions (i.e. hydrogen.) ---
**Author:** ![ethansiegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@ethansiegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethansiegel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/6 "2010-08-20T04:07:30Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > > [@ethansiegel](#): > > > > The only place _other_ than the Big Bang that produces protons (the nucleus of most hydrogen) are some rare radioactive decays and fission reactions, along with some high energy processes that produce proton-antiproton pairs. > > But those heavy radioactive elements come ultimately from ancient fusion reactions (i.e. hydrogen.) Yes, but in astrophysics this phrase has a specific meaning that’s different from “ultimately can be traced back to the big bang.” When we say “comes from the big bang” we mean that it’s pristine, and hasn’t been transformed from something else. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/7 "2010-08-20T04:15:00Z")
I think, what they’re trying to say, is yes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/8 "2010-08-20T04:49:09Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Which, if it did, would imply that all hydrogen did but I’m only concerned with “mine”. Oh, so it’s all about _you_… Wow, even the Big Bang is about you! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/9 "2010-08-20T04:50:25Z")
> [@ethansiegel](#): > > The only place _other_ than the Big Bang that produces protons (the nucleus of most hydrogen) are some rare radioactive decays and fission reactions, along with some high energy processes that produce proton-antiproton pairs. You’re forgetting one of the most common nuclear decay processes around: the emission of a neutron. Free neutrons decay with a half-life of around 11 minutes, producing a proton and an electron. Which together make up a hydrogen atom. This form of decay causes one of the hazards of storing high-level nuclear waste. Hydrogen (along with helium from alpha decay) will build up in tanks storing liquid high-level waste. These tanks have to be monitored for pressure and vented before it gets too high. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/10 "2010-08-20T06:39:10Z")
Even with hydrogen from neutron emission and decay, I think it’s still safe to say that the overwhelming majority of hydrogen in the Universe is primordial. There just isn’t enough radioactive material around to come close, even if every radioactive atom emitted a neutron (which they don’t; alphas and betas are much more common). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/11 "2010-08-20T09:35:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even with hydrogen from neutron emission and decay, I think it’s still safe to say that the overwhelming majority of hydrogen in the Universe is primordial. There just isn’t enough radioactive material around to come close, even if every radioactive atom emitted a neutron (which they don’t; alphas and betas are much more common). Oh, sure. No argument. Didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I was just saying that proton as a decay product is not as rare as **ethansiegel** indicated. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/12 "2010-08-20T14:21:58Z")
[quote=“dtilque, post:9, topic:550824”] > [@ethansiegel](#): > > This form of decay causes one of the hazards of storing high-level nuclear waste. Hydrogen (along with helium from alpha decay) will build up in tanks storing liquid high-level waste. These tanks have to be monitored for pressure and vented before it gets too high. How radioactive would this hydrogen be? What does _H_ break down to, if at all? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/13 "2010-08-20T14:58:45Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > How radioactive would this hydrogen be? What does _H_ break down to, if at all? Not radioactive at all. That hydrogen is no different from any other hydrogen, and it’s completely stable. Deuterium (hydrogen with an added neutron) is similarly stable. Tritium (with two added neutrons), however, is fairly radioactive, but I don’t think it is produced from radioactive waste like **dtilque** mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![ethansiegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@ethansiegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethansiegel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/14 "2010-08-20T15:32:54Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > > > How radioactive would this hydrogen be? What does _H_ break down to, if at all? > > Not radioactive at all. That hydrogen is no different from any other hydrogen, and it’s completely stable. Deuterium (hydrogen with an added neutron) is similarly stable. Tritium (with two added neutrons), however, is fairly radioactive, but I don’t think it is produced from radioactive waste like **dtilque** mentioned. Tritium _is_ a radioactive waste product; old-style nuclear power plants produce tritiated water. The tritium, however, decays into Helium-3, not into hydrogen, so unless you’ve literally been drinking the wrong water, you shouldn’t have any in you. Neutron emission, BTW, is an extremely rare decay (as compared with the three major types: alpha, beta, and gamma decays), and usually occur only with man-made elements, not with the natural ones. [Neutron emission - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_emission) ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/15 "2010-08-20T16:12:28Z")
> [@ethansiegel](#): > > Neutron emission, BTW, is an extremely rare decay (as compared with the three major types: alpha, beta, and gamma decays), and usually occur only with man-made elements, not with the natural ones. [Neutron emission - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_emission) For the record, [proton emission](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_emission) is also possible, but is even rarer. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/16 "2010-08-20T16:16:27Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > How radioactive would this hydrogen be? What does _H_ break down to, if at all? Hydrogen is the simplest element. It contains one proton and one electron. If it loses the electron it still can be considered a hydrogen ion. As a single proton there’s nothing simpler for it to break down to, unless protons themselves can break down. That’s been a controversial subject for decades. Certain Grand Unified Theories predict that over a very long time scale, even [protons will break down](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_decay). > [@](#): > > Despite the lack of observational evidence for proton decay, some grand unification theories, such as the Georgi–Glashow model, require it. According to some such theories, the proton has a half-life of about 10[sup]36[/sup] years, and decays into a positron and a neutral pion that itself immediately decays into 2 gamma ray photons: > > p → e+ + π[sup]0[/sup] > π[sup]0[/sup] → 2[sup]γ[/sup] A positron is a positive electron. 10[sup]36[/sup] is a ridiculously long time, about 10[sup]26[/sup] times as long as the universe has been in existence. Still, with so many protons some would presumably be breaking down at any given time. The problem is that experiments can’t find any. > [@](#): > > Recent experiments at the Super-Kamiokande water Cherenkov radiation detector in Japan give a lower limit of the proton half-life of 6.6×10[sup]33[/sup] years Until some better experimental proof comes along, you can assume that your Hydrogen is stable and will not break down at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/17 "2010-08-20T16:25:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Neutron emission, BTW, is an extremely rare decay (as compared with the three major types: alpha, beta, and gamma decays), and usually occur only with man-made elements, not with the natural ones. If nothing else, you’ll get neutrons from spontaneous fission, especially if you get critical fission going (which can happen in nature). And I don’t know all that much about grand unification theories, but I would expect that if the positron + pi[sup]0[/sup] decay is permitted, then a neutrino + pi[sup]+[/sup] decay should also be permitted, and have approximately the same amplitude. Unlike the positron channel, where all the energy ultimately ends up in photons (assuming there’s an electron in the vicinity for the positron to annihilate with), the neutrino channel would end up sinking most of the energy into neutrinos of various sorts (a mu neutrino/antineutrino pair and an electron neutrino/antineutrino pair). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/18 "2010-08-22T05:06:54Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > > > How radioactive would this hydrogen be? What does _H_ break down to, if at all? > > Not radioactive at all. That hydrogen is no different from any other hydrogen, and it’s completely stable. Deuterium (hydrogen with an added neutron) is similarly stable. Tritium (with two added neutrons), however, is fairly radioactive, but I don’t think it is produced from radioactive waste like **dtilque** mentioned. However, hydrogen is flammable. If it mixes with oxygen, it can go _boom!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/19 "2010-08-22T05:17:52Z")
> [@](#): > > However, hydrogen is flammable. If it mixes with oxygen, it can go boom! The hydrogen’s still there, though, as part of the molecules. And **Nars** was asking about the hydrogen in his body, which is for the most part hydrogen which has already gone boom. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hydrogen-in-my-body-come-from-the-big-bang/550824/20 "2010-08-22T14:23:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > However, hydrogen is flammable. If it mixes with oxygen, it can go boom! > > The hydrogen’s still there, though, as part of the molecules. And **Nars** was asking about the hydrogen in his body, which is for the most part hydrogen which has already gone boom. I’m pretty sure **MEBuckner** wasn’t responding to Nars. This response was part of the discussion of the danger of the hydrogen produced by radioactive decay of stored waste. It’s not radioactive, but it is dangerous because it 1) builds up pressure and 2) is inflammable.