A Method for Estimating the Systemic Burden of Pu From Urinalyses

Abstract

It is generally agreed that Langham's model for urinary excretion of Pu substantially overestimates the systemic burden several years after exposure. Improved estimates can be derived from information obtained since the development of that model, including comparative urine and autopsy data for occupationally exposed persons; reanalyzed and updated data for human subjects injected with Pu; and a large body of general physiological and Pu-specific information on the processes governing the behavior of Pu in the body. We examine modeling approaches based on each of these sets of information and show that the three approaches yield fairly consistent estimates of the urinary excretion rate over three decades after contamination of blood. Estimates from the various approaches are unified to obtain a single set of predicted urinary excretion rates that, in effect, is based on all three bodies of information. A simple method is described for using these excretion rates to estimate intakes and systemic burdens of Pu.

A Biokinetic Model for Rb in Humans

“…These include development of a system of age-swcific biokinetic models (Leggett and Eckerman 1984;Leggett and Warren 1987), proper treatment of daughter products of nuclides , realistic depiction of the time-dependent distribution of nuclides for improved dosimetry of short-lived nuclides (Leggett and Williams 1986) and development of biokinetic models that provide estimates of activity removed by specific excretion pathways, for use in bioassay programs (Leggett 1985;Leggett and Eckerman 1987).…”

“…This model represents a further development of a physiologically descriptive approach to biokinetic modeling that we believe is needed to address many problems in radiation protection. These include development of agespecific biokinetic models, proper treatment of daughter products of nuclides, realistic depiction of the early distribution of short-lived nuclides and development of biokinetic models that provide estimates of activity removed by specific excretion pathways (Leggett and Eckerman 1984;Leggett 1985;Leggett et al 1985;Leggett and Williams 1986;Leggett and Eckerman 1987;Leggett and Warren 1987).…”

ICRP Publication 141: Occupational Intakes of Radionuclides: Part 4

“…Parameter values of the Publication 67 model describing the short- and intermediate-term behaviour of plutonium, including its urinary and faecal excretion rates and initial division between bone and liver, were heavily influenced by data from the Langham study. However, modelling of the long-term distribution and excretion of plutonium was guided largely by excretion and autopsy data for plutonium workers (Leggett, 1985; Leggett and Eckerman, 1987; Kathren et al., 1988; McInroy et al., 1989; McInroy and Kathren, 1990; Kathren and McInroy, 1991), which differed greatly from projections based on the Langham data with regard to long-term urinary and faecal excretion rates. (851) Much additional excretion and autopsy data for plutonium workers have been published since the completion of Publication 67 (e.g. Khokhryakov et al., 1994, 2000; Suslova et al., 1996, 2002, 2009, 2012; Ehrhart and Filipy, 2001; Filipy, 2001, 2003; James and Brooks, 2006).…”

US Army Radiological Bioassay and Dosimetry: The RBD software package

“…Alternatively, if the REPORT switch is set to false (F), a committed dose report can be generated from an existing DBS file by selecting Generate REPORT from the RBD main menu. To set the REPORT switch, you select Modify SITE.DFT-MODSITE from the RBD main menu and toggle item 16. In Lesson 1, you set the REPORT switch to false.…”

“…The EASY mode of operation was created in response to suggestions at the Internal Dosimetry Training Course held at Ft. Belvoir from July [13][14][15][16][17]1992. We wish to thank those at the course for the suggestions they made with regards to improving the ease of use of RBD.…”