Long-term retention and distribution of highly enriched uranium in an occupationally exposed female.

Abstract

The United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries' (USTUR) female whole body tissue donor studied here was occupationally exposed to highly enriched uranium for 17 years. One hundred and twenty-nine tissue samples were collected at the time of death, 31 years post-exposure. These samples were radiochemically analyzed for uranium. The highest uranium concentration of 16.5 ± 2.0 µg kg^-1 was measured in the lungs, and the lowest concentration of 0.11 ± 0.01 µg kg^-1 in the liver. The thyroid had the highest concentration of 6.3 ± 2.9 µg kg^-1 among systemic tissues. Mass-weighted average concentration in the entire skeleton was estimated to be 1.60 ± 0.19 µg kg^-1. In the skeleton, uranium was non-uniformly distributed among different bones. Thirty-one years after the intake, approximately 40% of occupational uranium was still retained in the skeleton, followed by the kidneys (~ 30%), and the brain and liver (~ 10%). Systemic uranium was equally distributed between the skeleton and soft tissues. Uranium content in systemic organs followed the pattern: skeleton >  > brain ≈ kidneys > heart ≈ liver > thyroid ≈ spleen. Uranium distribution in this female was compared to previously published USTUR data for male tissue donors. It is concluded that no difference in uranium systemic distribution was observed between female and male individuals. It is demonstrated that dose assessment based on the current ICRP biokinetic model overestimated the dose to the brain by 20%.