Inhalation and Ingestion Intakes With Associated Dose Estimates for Level Ii and Level Iii Personnel Using Capstone Study Data

Abstract

Depleted uranium (DU) intake rates and subsequent dose rates were estimated for personnel entering armored combat vehicles perforated with DU penetrators (level II and level III personnel) using data generated during the Capstone DU Aerosol Study. Inhalation intake rates and associated dose rates were estimated from cascade impactors worn by sample recovery personnel and from cascade impactors that served as area monitors. Ingestion intake rates and associated dose rates were estimated from cotton gloves worn by sample recovery personnel and from wipe-tests samples from the interior of vehicles perforated with large-caliber DU munitions. The mean DU inhalation intake rate for level II personnel ranged from 0.447 mg h(-1) based on breathing zone monitor data (in and around a perforated vehicle) to 14.5 mg h(-1) based on area monitor data (in a perforated vehicle). The mean DU ingestion intake rate for level II ranged from 4.8 mg h(-1) to 38.9 mg h(-1) based on the wipe-tests data including surface-to-glove transfer factors derived from the Capstone data. Based on glove contamination data, the mean DU ingestion intake rates for level II and level III personnel were 10.6 mg h(-1) and 1.78 mg h(-1), respectively. Effective dose rates and peak kidney uranium concentration rates were calculated based on the intake rates. The peak kidney uranium concentration rate cannot be multiplied by the total exposure duration when multiple intakes occur because uranium will clear from the kidney between the exposures.

Health Effects of Particulate Uranium Exposure

“…The internal exposure dose from the deposition and transfer of uranium particles in the respiratory tract involves many influences, mainly the half-life of the radionuclide, the type and energy of the radiation, the amount entering the body, the physicochemical state, the retention site, and the retention time [ 94 , 95 , 96 ]. For inhaled particles, the ICRP considered aerodynamic diameters of 1 µm and 5 µm for dose estimation.…”