Assessing the uniformity of plutonium alpha radiation dose in human lung: the Mayak experience.
Radiation-induced lung cancer risk is currently estimated based on epidemiological data from populations exposed either to relatively uniform, low-LET radiation, or from uranium miners who inhaled radon and its progeny. Inhaled alpha-emitting radionuclides (e.g. Pu and Am) produce distinctive dose patterns that may not be adequately modelled at present. Thus the distribution of Pu is being measured in formalin-fixed autopsy lung tissue from former workers at the Mayak Production Association, and which is maintained in a tissue archive at SUBI. Lungs are sampled using contemporary stereological techniques and Pu particle activities and locations are determined using quantitative autoradiography and morphological identification of lung structures. To date, > 80% of Pu particles have been observed in parenchymal lung tissues with higher concentrations being found in scar tissue. Concentrations of Pu particles in conducting airways are uniformly low, thus indicating that long-term-retained Pu particles are non-uniformly distributed in human lung, mostly in the parenchyma.
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI), P.O. Box 5890, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
R A
RA
Guilmette
S A
SA
Romanov
F F
FF
Hahn
A P
AP
Nifatov
K N
KN
Muksinova
Y V
YV
Zaytseva
D000512:Alpha Particles; D001980:Bronchi / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011005:Plutonium / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012426:Russia; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D011005:Plutonium