A normative value pilot study: Levels of uranium in urine samples from UK civilians

Journal Article · Fri Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Environmental Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2007.02.004· OSTI ID:20972074

Jones, A D ^[1]; Miller, B G ^[1]; Walker, S ^[2]; Anderson, J ^[3]; Colvin, A P ^[1]; Hutchison, P A ^[1]; Soutar, C A ^[1]

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1. Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
2. Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
3. Scientifics Ltd (United Kingdom)

A normative study of the levels of urinary uranium in the general UK population is needed for comparison with levels in UK military and ex-military personnel who served where munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) were used. As preparation, this pilot study trialled the process of collecting 24-h samples from adult male civilians, and compared the measurements from 24-h samples with those from spot samples taken over the subsequent 24 h. The purpose was to assess the relative utility of the two types of samples. Twenty-five convalescent hospital in-patients were recruited as participants. Uranium concentrations in the 24-h samples ranged from 1 to 10.6 ng l{sup -1}; in the spots, from not detectable to 38.1 ng l{sup -1}. Normalised to creatinine, concentrations in the 24 h samples ranged from approximately 100 to 800 ng mol{sup -1} creatinine; in the spot samples, from not detectable to approximately 4000 ng mol{sup -1} creatinine. The ranges appear similar to those reported for residents of the US. The distribution of spot sample results indicated that 95% of a participant's creatinine-adjusted concentrations from spot samples would be within the range 40-250% of his mean. Adjusting for creatinine almost entirely eliminated a slight indication of diurnal variation in urinary uranium concentration in spot samples. All the 24-h samples and 131 out of the 133 spot samples showed ratios of isotopes {sup 238}U to {sup 235}U consistent with natural uranium (i.e. neither enriched nor depleted). Slightly elevated ratios in two spot samples were not supported by other samples from the same participants, indicating that slightly elevated ratios may be recorded on very low concentration (<1 ng l{sup -1}) samples. In the main, quantification of this isotope ratio from spot samples was only slightly more variable than from 24-h samples. Complete 24-h urine samples gave better precision than spot samples in estimating uranium concentrations at these low levels, but presented more logistic difficulties in the collection of the samples. Clarification of the relative merits of alternative sampling strategies enables the design of a wider study to be optimised.

• OSTI ID: 20972074
• Journal Information: Environmental Research, Journal Name: Environmental Research Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 104; ISSN ENVRAL; ISSN 0013-9351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
ACCURACY
ADULTS
CREATININE
DAILY VARIATIONS
DEPLETED URANIUM
HOSPITALS
ISOTOPE RATIO
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
MILITARY PERSONNEL
NATURAL URANIUM
URANIUM 235
URANIUM 238
URINE