The distribution of 210Pb in human bone and its impact on methods for the retrospective estimation of 222Rn exposure from in vivo measurements

Theoretical Prediction of the 210 Pb Burden in the Skeleton from Radon Exposure and Other Intake Routes

ABSTRACT

The 210 Pb burden in the skeleton is a measurement value suitable for the estimation of the cumulative exposure to radon, based on which the resultant risk of lung cancer can be derived. There have been a handful of studies that successfully measured 210 Pb activity in the bones of volunteers who had chronic exposure to high concentrations of radon occupationally or in their residences. However, the quantitative relationship between measured 210 Pb activity and radon exposure remains elusive. Herein, we investigate the origin of the skeletal burden by employing the biokinetic model recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and modeling various routes of intake. First, the baseline 210 Pb burden for the general public regarding eating assorted foodstuffs and breathing normal air is obtained. It is found that this baseline burden ranges between 7.3 to 46.5 Bq for a 50-y-old (male) person, which characterizes a large variance due to the uncertainty of each route of intake. Next, we concentrate on radon exposure by referring to two experimental studies where the accounts of exposure and the measured 210 Pb burden for each volunteer are documented in detail. From comparing our prediction and measurements, it is found that exposure to higher concentration of radon is the most significant source of 210 Pb intake, and the quantitative differences can be reasonably explained by the uncertainty resulting from regular intake routes. This study establishes the theoretical foundation for assessing one's risk of lung cancer due to radon exposure by measuring the 210 Pb burden in bones.

Measuring the activity of inhaled ²²²Rn using a lung counting system

A new method of directly measuring (222)Rn progeny in a worker's lung using a lung counting system is introduced. To determine the efficiency of the lung counting system, a torso phantom manufactured by the China Institute for Radiation Protection was used, where activated carbon that had been loaded in a radon chamber with a defined quantity of radon represented the lungs, which were usually made of urethane foam. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of (214)Bi, one of the (222)Rn progenies, was estimated to be 7.3 Bq for a measurement time of 4000 s. Based on the time (222)Rn progenies stay in the lung, it may be concluded that the lung counting system described can be well used for directly measuring the activity of (214)Bi in the lung short time after a worker inhaled (222)Rn at his/her workplace.

Radiolead (210)Pb and (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratios in dogs' hair

The aim of this study was to determine activity concentrations of radiolead (210)Pb as well as (210)Po/(210)Pb activity ratios in dog hair. The objectives of this research were also to investigate the utility of domestic animal hair as a noninvasive indicator of metal exposure for radiotoxic, naturally occurring (210)Pb and find the correlations between (210)Pb concentration in hair and age, gender, hair type or diet of analyzed animals. The highest (210)Pb concentrations were measured in a 2-year-old Shih Tzus (9.82 ± 0.53 Bq kg(-1) dw(-1)) and a 2-year-old Bichon Maltese (8.09 ± 0.42 Bq kg(-1) dw(-1)), both longhair males, while the lowest was found in a 15-year-old Yorkshire Terrier (0.44 ± 0.02 Bq kg(-1) dw(-1)), small longhair male as well. As results showed, mainly dog hair color as well as their age and gender influenced the differences in the values of (210)Pb concentrations in analyzed hair samples. Also the values of activity ratios of (210)Po/(210)Pb in analyzed dog hair samples were calculated and obtained results were similar to those observed in human hair.