title: Natural variation in 210Po and 210Pb activity concentrations in the urine of Finnish population groups.
abstract: A study to determine activity concentrations of (210)Pb and (210)Po in the urine of certain Finnish population groups was conducted, to investigate the variation in natural background level of urinary excretion. The study participants were divided into three groups mainly based on their diet. The first group comprised recreational fishermen and the second group represented people consuming more reindeer meat than an average Finn, while people using drinking water with very high activity concentrations of (210)Po were selected for the third group. The fourth group was a control group. The mean urinary excretion of (210)Po in groups 1 and 2 was 73 and 100 mBq d(-1), respectively. These values were higher than the value of the control group (20 mBq d(-1)) and the mean values reported in the literature. The mean daily urinary excretion of (210)Pb in groups 1 and 2, 70 and 52 mBq d(-1), was also slightly higher than that in the control group (32 mBq d(-1)). In contrast, the excretion rates of both (210)Po and (210)Pb for the members of group 3 were one to two orders of magnitude higher than those reported in the literature. This was clearly due to the elevated levels of natural radionuclides in their drinking water. The present study demonstrates the importance of possessing good knowledge of the background levels, in order to allow the determination of the additional exposure due, for example, to the malevolent use of radiation.
authors.affiliation: STUK-Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Finland. maarit.muikku@stuk.fi
authors.forename: Maarit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muikku
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heikkinen
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Solatie
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vesterbacka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060766:Drinking Water / Q000737:chemistry; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007856:Lead Radioisotopes / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D011059:Polonium / Q000652:urine*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012053:Reindeer
chemical_list: D060766:Drinking Water; D007856:Lead Radioisotopes; D011059:Polonium