Measurement of the Natural Contents of RaD (Pb210) and RaF (Po210) in Human Bone—Estimates of Whole-Body Burdens

Abstract

The natural RaD (PbZ1O) concentration in man has been determined from measurement of the RaF (PozlO) in bone samples obtained from surgery and autopsy of unexposed individuals, mostly from Illinois. About 63 per cent of the RaD is in the skeleton in apparent equilibrium with RaF and, within a factor of 2, it is uniformly distributed in the skeleton. The average RaD concentration found in 128 bone samples was 0.146 f 0.020 pc/g ash as compared to an average Ra226 concentration of 0.037 0.007 pc/g ash. Little correlation between the two nuclides was observed. The average RaD concentrations in the skeleton were 0.161 pc/g ash in men and 0.119 pc/g ash in women. These concentrations were generally higher in trabecular than in cortical bone, 0.184 and 0.105 pc/g ash, respectively. No particular correlation was found between the residence histories of the donors and the RaD concentrations in their skeletons. Calculations based on some of the metabolic parameters of lead and on the known concentrations of RaZz6, RnZz2 and RaD in the human biosphere, show food and air to be the major contributors of RaD in the subjects studied. The RaDEF decay chain is shown to contribute a radiation dose to the human skeleton more than double that from Ra226 and about equal to that from RaZz6 and RaZz8 combined.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ALPHA EMITTER, $sup 210$Po, TO THE NATURAL RADIATION ENVIRONMENT OF THE MARINE ORGANISMS.

“…The sketch presented by Table II is made somewhat more interesting by the addition of some alpha burden data reported for humans [5]. This makes it apparent that the alpha burdens experienced by some marine animals may be high relative to some that have been reported for man.…”

Primate polonium metabolic models and their use in estimation of systemic radiation doses from bioassay data. Final report

“…Hill calculated an average intake of 118 mBq (3.2 pCi)/day for individuals in Great Britain and Holtzman estimated an average intake of 67 mBq (1.8 pCi)/day for individuals in the U.S. based on excretion analyses (Holtzman 1963). …”

Pb-210 irradiation dose estimation for inhabitants living in high natural background areas on Pernambuco/Brazil

“…On the other hand, the alpha decay of 210 Po, with energy of 5.3 MeV, contributes with 90-95% of the energy deposited in the red bone marrow (Salmon et al, 1999). It is estimated that an amount of 50% of 210 Po produced by 210 Pb decay in the human body is transferred into the bones (Hursh, 1960;Holtzman, 1963;Osborne, 1963;Beasley and Palmer, 1966).…”