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DEPOSITION AND RETENTION OF PLUTONIUM IN THE UNITED STATES GENERAL POPULATION ( PLUTONIUM INJECTION EXPERIMENT )

BOYD, H A; EUTSLER, B C; MCINROY, J F

HREX; BASELINE LEVEL; DEPOSITION; PLUTONIUM; RETENTION

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

Never classified

0019

NV0703623

1994 Aug 27

2012 May 14

DEPOSITION AND RETENTION OF PLUTONIUM IN THE UNITED STATES GENERAL POPULATION, J. F. MCINROY, H. A. BOYD, AND B. C. EUTSLER. SINCE 1959, A LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY (LASL) STUDY HAS ANALYZED OVER 5000 TISSUES FROM 1100 INDIVIDUALS OF THE NONOCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED GENERAL POPULATION FOR FALLOUT PLUTONIUM. THESE DATA HAVE BEEN USEFUL IN DETERMINING THE TISSUE DISTRIBUTION AND THE ANNUAL BASELINE LEVELS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLUTONIUM IN THE U. S. POPULATION. THE EFFECTS OF AGE, SEX, DATE OF DEATH, CAUSE OF DEATH, AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF RESIDENCE ON THE OBSERVED PLUTONIUM DEPOSITION HAVE BEEN EVALUATED. BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENT BIOLOGICAL TURNOVER TIMES OF PLUTONIUM IN THE VARIOUS ORGANS OF THE BODY AND THE CHANGING CONCENTRATIONS OF PLUTONIUM IN THE ATMOSPHERE, THE PLUTONIUM CONCENTRATION RATIOS BETWEEN TISSUES HAVE CHANGED AS A FUNCTION OF TIME. HOWEVER, OUR DATA INDICATE THAT OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATIONS IN THE GENERAL POPULATION ARE FOUND IN THE TRACHEOBRONCHIAL LYMPH NODES AND THE LIVER, AND THE LOWEST CONCENTRATIONS ARE IN THE SPLEEN, GONADS, AND KIDNEY. THE MEDIAN BODY BURDENS OF PLUTONIUM IN THE U. S. POPULATION ARE ESTIMATED TO HAVE REACHED 12 PCI DURING THE 1960'S AND HAVE DECLINED TO ABOUT 2 PCI IN 1977. LARGE ERRORS IN ESTIMATED SKELETAL BURDENS OF PLUTONIUM MAY EXIST BECAUSE OF SMALL SPECIMEN SAMPLE SIZES AND A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING THE RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF PLUTONIUM AMONG THE VARIOUS BONES OF THE HUMAN BODY.