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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Implications of human tissue studies

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7245259

Through radiochemical analysis of voluntary tissue donations, the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries are gaining improved understanding of the distribution and biokinetics of actinide elements in occupationally exposed persons. Evaluation of the first two whole body contributions to the Transuranium Registry revealed an inverse proportionality between actinide concentration and bone ash fraction. The analysis of a whole body with a documented /sup 241/Am deposition indicated a significantly shorter half-time in liver and a greater fraction resident in the skeleton than predicted by existing models. Other studies of the Registries are designed to evaluate in vivo estimates of actinide deposition with those derived from postmortem tissue analysis, compare results of animal experiments with human data, and reviw histopathologic slides for tissue toxicity that might be attributable to exposure to uranium and the transuranic elements. The implications of these recent findings and other work of the Registries are discussed from the standpoint of their potential impact on biokinetic modeling, internal dose assessment, safety standards, and operational health physics practices.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
7245259
Report Number(s):
PNL-SA-14090; CONF-861044-2; ON: DE87002063
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English