Metabolism of organically bound tritium

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6451380

Travis, C C

The classic methodology for estimating dose to man from environmental tritium ignores the fact that organically bound tritium in foodstuffs may be directly assimilated in the bound compartment of tissues without previous oxidation. We propose a four-compartment model consisting of a free body water compartment, two organic compartments, and a small, rapidly metabolizing compartment. The utility of this model lies in the ability to input organically bound tritium in foodstuffs directly into the organic compartments of the model. We found that organically bound tritium in foodstuffs can increase cumulative total body dose by a factor of 1.7 to 4.5 times the free body water dose alone, depending on the bound-to-loose ratio of tritium in the diet. Model predictions are compared with empirical measurements of tritium in human urine and tissue samples, and appear to be in close agreement. 10 references, 4 figures, 3 tables.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6451380
• Report Number(s): CONF-8410171-1; ON: DE85002576
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550501* -- Metabolism-- Tracer Techniques
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS
DOSES
INGESTION
INTAKE
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MAN
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METABOLISM
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PRIMATES
RADIATION DOSES
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
VERTEBRATES