The effects on human populations of exposure to alpha-emitting radionuclides: The 1988 BEIR IV report

Conference · Wed Jul 20 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6705020

Fabrikant, J I; Ellett, W H; Cooper, R D

The BEIR-IV Report addresses health effects in human populations exposed to internally deposited alpha-emitting radionuclides and their decay products. Emphasis has been placed on the carcinogenic effects in humans and where possible, quantitative risk estimates for cancer induction are presented. The largest part of the Report concentrates on the health outcomes due to exposure to radon and its progeny. The Report also addresses health effects due to exposure to other groups of radionuclides and their progeny that emit alpha particles, viz., the isotopes of polonium, radium, thorium, uranium, and the transuranic elements. Lung cancer risk is derived from the epidemiologic surveys of underground miners who breathe high levels of radon-222 progeny. The risk of bone sarcomas is derived from the United States radium dial painters who ingested radium-226 and radium-228 and from German patients who received radium-224 for therapeutic purposes. The risk of head sinus carcinomas is obtained from the United States radium dial painters; the radon-222 gas and its progeny accumulated in the sinuses and mastoid air cells in workers with increased body burdens of radium-226. The human data on liver cancer risk come mainly from Thorotrast patients who received colloidal thorium-232 dioxide and its progeny during medical procedures. 6 ref., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6705020
• Report Number(s): LBL-25945; CONF-8809137-4; ON: DE89002922
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560161* -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CARBON 14 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARCINOGENESIS
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DECAY
DIAL PAINTERS
DISEASES
DRUGS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INGESTION
INTAKE
INTERNAL IRRADIATION
IRRADIATION
ISOTOPES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEI
ORGANS
PATHOGENESIS
PERSONNEL
POPULATIONS
RADIOINDUCTION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
RADIUM 226
RADIUM 228
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON 222
RADON ISOTOPES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RISK ASSESSMENT
SARCOMAS
THORIUM 232
THORIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES