title: Internal exposure to uranium in a pooled cohort of gaseous diffusion plant workers.
abstract: Intakes and absorbed organ doses were estimated for 29 303 workers employed at three former US gaseous diffusion plants as part of a study of cause-specific mortality and cancer incidence in uranium enrichment workers. Uranium urinalysis data (>600 000 urine samples) were available for 58 % of the pooled cohort. Facility records provided uranium gravimetric and radioactivity concentration data and allowed estimation of enrichment levels of uranium to which workers may have been exposed. Urine data were generally recorded with facility department numbers, which were also available in study subjects' work histories. Bioassay data were imputed for study subjects with no recorded sample results (33 % of pooled cohort) by assigning department average urine uranium concentration. Gravimetric data were converted to 24-h uranium activity excretion using department average specific activities. Intakes and organ doses were calculated assuming chronic exposure by inhalation to a 5-µm activity median aerodynamic diameter aerosol of soluble uranium. Median intakes varied between 0.31 and 0.74 Bq d(-1) for the three facilities. Median organ doses for the three facilities varied between 0.019 and 0.051, 0.68 and 1.8, 0.078 and 0.22, 0.28 and 0.74, and 0.094 and 0.25 mGy for lung, bone surface, red bone marrow, kidneys, and liver, respectively. Estimated intakes and organ doses for study subjects with imputed bioassay data were similar in magnitude.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14., Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA jlanderson@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Jeri L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Oak Ridge Center for Risk Analysis, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA.
authors.forename: A Iulian
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Apostoaei
authors.affiliation: Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14., Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA.
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yiin
authors.affiliation: Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14., Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA.
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.affiliation: Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14., Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA.
authors.forename: Chih-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies (DSHEFS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14., Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA.
authors.forename: Pi-Hsueh
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001822:Body Burden; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004058:Diffusion; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014501:Uranium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D014501:Uranium