Radium-226 body burden in U miners by measurement of Rn in exhaled breath

Journal Article · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Health Phys.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-198602000-00005· OSTI ID:5737584

Srivastava, G K; Raghavayya, M; Kotrappa, P; Somasundaram, S

Uranium miners were made to inhale Rn-free medical O2 and exhale through a 5.2-1 A1 chamber before reporting to work. The chamber was sealed and isolated from the sampling circuit. An electrostatic plate collected the freshly formed Rn-decay products. The subsequent programmed alpha counting of the plate yielded a Rn concentration in the exhaled breath. Assuming that the exhaled breath represents a certain fraction of the Rn produced inside the body, the body burden of 226Ra was calculated. Standardisation of this procedure and the data collected on 310 miners are discussed. The procedure is simple and applicable for routine measurements. The miner needs to be in the laboratory for only 10 min. The system is also portable for field application. For routine use, the minimum detectable concentration is 3.87 Bq X m-3 which corresponds to a body burden of 0.26 kBq in a typical miner, if one assumes the Rn release fraction from the body as 84%. The system offers a more convenient and sensitive alternative to whole-body counting of workers for 226Ra.

• Research Organization: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, India
• OSTI ID: 5737584
• Journal Information: Health Phys.; (United States), Journal Name: Health Phys.; (United States) Vol. 2; ISSN HLTPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ALPHA DETECTION
BODY BURDEN
BREATH
CHARGED PARTICLE DETECTION
CLEARANCE
DETECTION
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXCRETION
EXHALATION
FLUIDS
GASES
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ISOTOPES
MINERS
MINES
MONITORING
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
PERSONNEL
PERSONNEL MONITORING
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM 226
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON
RARE GASES
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UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
URANIUM MINES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES