Uptake of uranium from drinking water

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:5879858

Singh, N P; Wrenn, M E

The gastrointestinal absorption (G.I.) of uranium in man from drinking water was determined by measuring urinary and fecal excretion of /sup 234/U and /sup 238/U in eight subjects. In order to establish their normal backgrounds of uranium intake and excretion, the subjects collected 24 hour total output of both urine and feces for seven days prior to drinking water. During the next day they drank, at their normal rate of drinking water intake, 900 ml of water containing approximately 90 pCi /sup 238/U and 90 pCi /sup 234/U (273 meg U) and continued to collect their urine and feces for seven additional days. The G.I. absorption of /sup 234/U ranged from -0.07% to 1.88% and G.I. absorption of /sup 238/U ranged from -0.07% to 1.79%. Employing another technique for analyzing the data, the G.I. absorption ranged from -0.04 to 1.46% for /sup 234/U and from 0.03% to 1.43% for /sup 238/U. The dietary intake of U was also estimated from measurements of urinary and fecal excretion of U in eight subjects prior to drinking water containing U. The estimated average dietary intake of U for these subjects is 3.30 + or - 0.65 or 4.22 + or - 0.65 mcg/day. These averages are two to four times higher than the values reported in the literature for dietary intake.

• Research Organization: Utah Univ., Salt Lake City (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5879858
• Report Number(s): PB-88-103064/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DRINKING WATER
URANIUM
EXCRETION
INGESTION
FECES
METABOLISM
URINE
ACTINIDES
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
BODY FLUIDS
CLEARANCE
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INTAKE
MATERIALS
METALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
WASTES
WATER
520300* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1989)