Radiation Doses to Members of the U.S. Population from Ubiquitous Radionuclides in the Body: Part 1, Autopsy and In Vivo Data
This paper is part one of a three-part series investigating annual effective doses to residents of the United States from intakes of ubiquitous radionuclides, including radionuclides occurring naturally, radionuclides whose concentrations are technologically enhanced, and anthropogenic radionuclides. This series of papers explicitly excludes intakes from inhaling 222Rn, 220Rn, and their short-lived decay products; it also excludes intakes of radionuclides in occupational and medical settings. The goal of part one of this work was to review, summarize, and characterize all published and some unpublished data for U.S. residents on ubiquitous radionuclide concentrations in tissues and organs. Forty-five papers and reports were obtained and their data reviewed, and three data sets were obtained via private communication. The 45 radionuclides of interest are the 238U series (14 nuclides), the actinium series (headed by 235U; 11 nuclides), and the 232Th series (11 nuclides); primordial radionuclides 87Rb and 40 K; cosmogenic and fallout radionuclides 14C and 3H; and purely anthropogenic radionuclides 137Cs-137mBa, 129I, and 90Sr-90Y. Measurements judged to be relevant were available for only 15 of these radionuclides: 238U, 235U, 234U, 232Th, 230Th, 228Th, 228Ra, 226Ra, 210Pb, 210Po, 137Cs, 87Rb, 40K, 14C, and 3H. Recent and relevant measurements were not available for 129I and 90Sr-90Y. A total of 11,714 radionuclide concentration measurements were found in one or more tissues or organs from 14 States. Data on age, sex, geographic locations, height, and weight of subjects were available only sporadically. Too often authors did not provide meaningful values of uncertainty of measurements so that variability in data sets is confounded with measurement uncertainty. The following papers detail how these shortcomings are overcome to achieve the goals of the three-part series.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1008233
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-73433; HLTPAO; TRN: US1101352
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics, 100(4):359-376, Vol. 100, Issue 4; ISSN 0017-9078
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Properties of Natural Radiation and Radioactivity
SALTSTONE VAULT CLASSIFICATION SAMPLES MODULAR CAUSTIC SIDE SOLVENT EXTRACTION UNIT/ACTINIDE REMOVAL PROCESS WASTE STREAM APRIL 2011
Related Subjects
61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ACTINIUM
AUTOPSY
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
FALLOUT
IN VIVO
ISOTOPES
ORGANS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
THORIUM
URANIUM
radiation
background
dosimetry
internal
uranium
thorium
uncertainty
variability
age-dependence
sex-dependence