title: Radionuclide biological half-life values for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
abstract: The equilibrium concentration ratio is typically the parameter used to estimate organism activity concentrations within wildlife dose assessment tools. Whilst this is assumed to be fit for purpose, there are scenarios such as accidental or irregular, fluctuating, releases from licensed facilities when this might not be the case. In such circumstances, the concentration ratio approach may under- or over-estimate radiation exposure depending upon the time since the release. To carrying out assessments for such releases, a dynamic approach is needed. The simplest and most practical option is representing the uptake and turnover processes by first-order kinetics, for which organism- and element-specific biological half-life data are required. In this paper we describe the development of a freely available international database of radionuclide biological half-life values. The database includes 1907 entries for terrestrial, freshwater, riparian and marine organisms. Biological half-life values are reported for 52 elements across a range of wildlife groups (marine = 9, freshwater = 10, terrestrial = 7 and riparian = 3 groups). Potential applications and limitations of the database are discussed.
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK; School of Environment & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester M4 4WT, UK. Electronic address: nab@ceh.ac.uk.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Beresford
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, PRP-ENV, LM2E, Cadarache, France.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beaugelin-Seiller
authors.affiliation: Nogales 5, 28005, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burgos
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy, University of Belgrade, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cujic
authors.affiliation: International Atomic Energy Agency, A-2444 Seibersdorf, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fesenko
authors.affiliation: SPATyphoon, Obninsk, Russia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kryshev
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pachal
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medio Ambientales y Tecnológicas, Av. Complutense 40, Madrid 28040, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Real
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, 263-8555 Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tagami
authors.affiliation: Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vives i Batlle
authors.affiliation: Sterrenstraat 15, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vives-Lynch
authors.affiliation: NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: School of Environment & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester M4 4WT, UK.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000378:metabolism*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006207:Half-Life; D000069079:Radiation Exposure; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011848:Radioactive Pollutants; D011868:Radioisotopes
keywords: Biological half-life; Non-human biota; Radionuclide; Wildlife