title: Radiation doses to members of the U.S. population from ubiquitous radionuclides in the body: Part 1, autopsy and in vivo data.
abstract: This paper is Part 1 of a three-part series investigating steady-state effective dose rates to residents of the United States from intakes of ubiquitous radionuclides, including radionuclides occurring naturally, radionuclides whose concentrations are technologically enhanced, and anthropogenic radionuclides. This series of papers explicitly excludes intakes from inhaling (222)Rn, (220)Rn, and their short-lived decay products; it also excludes intakes of radionuclides in occupational and medical settings. In this work, it is assumed that instantaneous dose rates in target organs are proportional to steady-state radionuclide concentrations in source regions. The goal of Part 1 of this work was to review, summarize, and characterize all published and some unpublished data for U.S. residents on ubiquitous radionuclide concentrations in tissues and organs. Forty-five papers and reports were obtained and their data reviewed, and three data sets were obtained via private communication. The 45 radionuclides of interest are the (238)U series (14 nuclides), the actinium series (headed by (235)U; 11 nuclides), and the (232)Th series (11 nuclides); primordial radionuclides (87)Rb and (40)K; cosmogenic and fallout radionuclides (14)C and (3)H; and purely anthropogenic radionuclides (137)Cs-(137m)Ba, (129)I, and (90)Sr-(90)Y. Measurements judged to be relevant were available for only 15 of these radionuclides: (238)U, (235)U, (234)U, (232)Th, (230)Th, (228)Th, (228)Ra, (226)Ra, (210)Pb, (210)Po, (137)Cs, (87)Rb, (40)K, (14)C, and (3)H. Recent and relevant measurements were not available for (129)I and (90)Sr-(90)Y. A total of 11,741 radionuclide concentration measurements were found in one or more tissues or organs from 14 states. Data on age, gender, geographic locations, height, and weight of subjects were available only sporadically. Too often authors did not provide meaningful values of uncertainty of measurements, so that variability in data sets is confounded with measurement uncertainty. The following papers detail how these shortcomings are overcome to achieve the goals of the three-part series.
authors.affiliation: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352-0999, USA. strom@pnl.gov
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Strom
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes