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摘要
Americium-241 (Am-241) is the second most significant radiation hazard after Pu-239 at some of the Mayak Production Association facilities. This study summarizes current data on the accumulation, distribution, and excretion of americium compared with plutonium in different organs from former Mayak PA workers. Americium and plutonium were measured in autopsy and bioassay samples and correlated with the presence or absence of chronic disease and with biological transportability of the aerosols encountered at different workplaces. The relative accumulation of Am-241 was found to be increasing in the workers over time. This is likely from Pu-241 that increases with time in reprocessed fuel and from the increased concentrations of Am-241 and Pu-241 in inhaled alpha-active aerosols. While differences were observed in lung retention with exposures to different industrial compounds with different transportabilities (i.e., dioxide and nitrates), there were no significant differences in lung retention between americium and plutonium within each transportability group. In the non-pulmonary organs, the highest ratios of Am-241/Am-241 + Sigma Pu were observed in the skeleton. The relative ratios of americium in the skeleton versus liver were significantly greater than for plutonium. The relative amounts of americium and plutonium found in the skeleton compared with the liver were even greater in workers with documented chronic liver diseases. Excretion rates of Am-241 in "healthy" workers were estimated using bioassay and autopsy data. The data suggest that impaired liver function leads to reduced hepatic Am-241 retention, leading to increased Am-241 excretion. Health Phys. 104(3): 313-324; 2013
- 出版日期2013-3
