Measurements of /sup 234/U, /sup 238/U and /sup 230/Th in excreta of uranium-mill crushermen
Uranium and thorium levels in excreta of uranium mill crushermen who are routinely exposed to airborne uranium ore dust were measured. The purpose was to determine whether /sup 230/Th was preferentially retained over either /sup 234/U or /sup 238/U in the body. Urine and fecal samples were obtained from fourteen active crushermen with long histories of exposure to uranium ore dust, plus four retired crushermen and three control individuals for comparison. Radiochemical procedures were used to separate out the uranium and thorium fractions, which were then electroplated on stainless steel discs and assayed by alpha spectrometry. Significantly greater activity levels of /sup 234/U and /sup 238/U were measured in both urine and fecal samples obtained from uranium mill crushermen, indicating that uranium in the inhaled ore dust was cleared from the body with a shorter biological half-time than the daughter product /sup 230/Th. The measurements also indicated that uranium and thorium separate in vivo and have distinctly different metabolic pathways and transfer rates in the body. The appropriateness of current ICRP retention and clearance parameters for /sup 230/Th in ore dust is questioned.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5068081
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CR-2503; PNL-4027; ON: DE82020635
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
560171* -- Radiation Effects-- Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTIVITY LEVELS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
BODY FLUIDS
CLEARANCE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FECES
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
HEAVY NUCLEI
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
PERSONNEL
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
THORIUM 230
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM 234
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
URINE
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES