Uranium Deposition and Retention in a Ustur Whole Body Case

Abstract

This report describes a whole body donation from a person with a documented occupational intake of uranium. USTUR Case 1002 was an adult male who died from an acute cerebellar infarct at the age of 83. He worked as a power operator, utility operator, and metal operator for 28 years in a facility that processed and handled radioactive materials. Although he suffered a number of burns from hot metal and acids, cuts, abrasions, and puncture wounds during his many years of work, there were no corresponding health physics or medical records to indicate that these occurrences needed or required excision or decontamination due to the suspicion of the deposition of radioactive material. Over the course of his employment, USTUR Case 1002 submitted numerous urine samples for uranium, plutonium, and fission product analysis. The highest single uranium value measured during this time period was approximately 30 microg L(-1) recorded during the second year of his employment. A urinary bioassay sample taken before termination of employment measured 4.3 microg L(-1). The mean urinary uranium concentration per liter per year calculated from the employee's bioassay records covering the first eleven years of monitoring averaged less than 3 microg L(-1). The ratio of 234/238U activity in the lung tissue was about 1, the same as that found in natural uranium. The highest concentration of uranium was found in a tracheobronchial lymph node. The uranium content in the various tissues of the body followed a rank order lung > skeleton > liver > kidney. Concentration of uranium in the kidney tissue was approximately 1.98 ng g(-1), about 3 orders of magnitude less than the generally accepted threshold level for permanent kidney damage of 3 microg U g(-1) and roughly equal to the 1.4 ng g(-1) reported for Reference Man. The autopsy disclosed findings not uncommon in the aged: severe atherosclerosis, areas of sclerotic kidney glomeruli with stromal fibrous scarring, and moderate to severe arterionephrosclerosis. Lung sections contained parenchymal areas of acute vascular congestion and a mild degree of anthracosis.

French cohort of the uranium processing workers: mortality pattern after 30-year follow-up

“…A positive dose-response relationship was found between the exposure to internal radiation after inhalation of airborne uranium particles and mortality from lymphopoietic cancers (Morgenstern and Ritz 2001;Ritz et al 2000). Increases in mortality from lymphatic cancer are consistent with the evidence from the study of uranium distribution both in animals (Galle et al 1992;Leach et al 1973) and in humans (Kathren et al 1989;Keane and Polednak 1983;Russell and Kathren 2004), especially after absorbing insoluble uranium particles. However, the role played by radiation exposure in the etiology of lymphoma and multiple myeloma is not clearly established (Kyle and Rajkumar 2007) and other factors (such as halogenated solvents, agricultural occupations, benzene and petroleum products, obesity, immune or antigenic stimulation, or genetics) may be responsible.…”

ICRP Publication 137: Occupational Intakes of Radionuclides: Part 3

“… (895) Additional information on the biological fate of uranium in humans is provided by post-mortem measurements of uranium in tissues of occupationally and environmentally exposed subjects (Donoghue et al., 1972; Campbell, 1975; Roberts et al., 1977; Igarashi et al., 1985; Fisenne and Welford, 1986; Sing et al., 1986, 1987; Kathren et al., 1989; Russell and Kathren, 2004). Such studies provide information on the long-term distribution of uranium in the human body.…”

Human Health and Environmental Uranium

“…The uranium content in the various tissues of the body followed a rank order 122 Patocka: Human Health and Environmental Uranium lung > skeleton > liver > kidney. The concentration of uranium in the kidney tissue was approximately 2.0 ng/g, about 3 orders of magnitude less than the generally accepted threshold level for permanent kidney damage (Galibin, 1974;Dang et al, 1995;Russell and Kathren, 2004;Spencer et al, 2007).…”