Variations in the concentration of plutonium, strontium-90 and total alpha-emitters in human teeth collected within the British Isles.
Concentrations of plutonium-239, plutonium-240, strontium-90 and total alpha-emitters have been measured in children's teeth collected throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The concentrations of plutonium and strontium-90 were measured in batched samples, each containing approximately 50 teeth, using low-background radiochemical methods. The concentrations of total alpha-emitters were determined in single teeth using alpha-sensitive plastic track detectors. The results showed that the average concentrations of total alpha-emitters and strontium-90 were approximately one to three orders of magnitude greater than the equivalent concentrations of plutonium-239,240. Regression analyses indicated that the concentrations of plutonium, but not strontium-90 or total alpha-emitters, decreased with increasing distance from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant-suggesting that this plant is a source of plutonium contamination in the wider population of the British Isles. Nevertheless, the measured absolute concentrations of plutonium (mean = 5 +/- 4 mBq kg-1 ash wt.) were so low that they are considered to present an insignificant radiological hazard.
O'Donnell
R G
RG
Department of Experimental Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Ireland.
Mitchell
P I
PI
Priest
N D
ND
Strange
L
L
Fox
A
A
Henshaw
D L
DL
Long
S C
SC
D000293:Adolescent; D000398:Air Pollution, Radioactive; D000512:Alpha Particles; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011005:Plutonium / Q000032:analysis*; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry*; D006113:United Kingdom
D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes; D011005:Plutonium