title: Body potassium content and radiation dose from 40K to the Slovak population.
abstract: A group of 219 subjects of Slovak adults from both sexes were studied for potassium body content by measuring the whole body activity of naturally occurring 40K using a whole body counter. The average body potassium value is 1.68 +/- 0.33 g kg(-1) body weight for males and 1.60 +/- 0.30 g kg(-1) for females. For both sexes the average body content of K was 1.62 +/- 0.30 g kg(-1). The concentration of potassium varies inversely with age. The specific activity of 40K varies inversely with slenderness. The total body potassium varies directly with body-build index for males, while its value is essentially constant for young females and tends to decrease with body-build index for old females. The average annual dose from 40K is 150 +/- 30 microGy for males and 140 +/- 30 microGy for females. For both sexes the average annual dose is 142 +/- 30 microGy. Both total potassium body content and annual dose from 40K for older subjects are below the values reported by the UNSCEAR.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive & Clinical Medicine, Department of Radiation Hygiene, Limbova, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lahham
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fülöp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vladár
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ragan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001822:Body Burden; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011188:Potassium / Q000032:analysis*; D011197:Potassium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D018154:Slovakia; D013008:Somatotypes; D014915:Whole-Body Counting
chemical_list: D011197:Potassium Radioisotopes; D011188:Potassium