The Biological Implications of the Transuranium Elements for Man (Health Physics Pergamon Press 1972, Volume 22 (June), PP 943-952)

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ELEMENTS FOR MAN Biomdkd Raarch Gmp, Iar Akma scicntihc kbolatory, Dvroro the put dayr ofthii symposiumwe hvc been privileged to hear reports of the in td ve d wphistiated mearch being conducted, not just in this country but in other countria u wdl, on r& biologicd prapatia and ilnplicotionr d the tnruurmium elunenb. From the number and quality of p.pm praented, it .ppaur quite certain that the buuurcmiumel-* in general and plutonium specihlly arc or will k the moIt tharoryhly rub run ~ ato kin b odd into man's everis u it should be beuw it hc been known for m&.k can produce ddctcriour biological a bit st.gg&ng to my the leut Havingspent ahnost my c n h career involvcd in one way or another 6th the bidogid effects and propertit, of plutonium, this praart~tionis ddrared primarily to this mank of the tmnrumnium family and some of its implicntioru for man. rtudied of the VAlLUble but patentidly harmful cffecu, d projecrionr of tbe role d thK PLUTONIUM IN THE FUTURE SZABOM(~,in a tdk praented at the Fourth International Cod" on Plutonium and O h Actinida in Surra Fe, New Mexico, on 5 October 1970, projected the possible role plutonium m y k expected to play in our cconomy over the next 3 decades. Table 1 k an rttcmpt to tabulate hir projections, which were based in put on the Fcdd Power Commiuion'r prcdictiolu of the nrtion's hturc power requirements and the invaring pare ~ h g ad that power that will come from nuclear sources. He visudizui that the annual production rate d "Pu will hcrease from about 20,000 kg in the 1970-1980 period to 60,000 kg in the 1980-1990 deude d to 80,OOOkg in the period 19902000. Bwd on current trends in the space bidogiul d msdical field, he poatuhted that the mte oC produetion and w of -Pu could incruse fram 10 to 20kg in the 1970-1980 in u1(! in pamrrourca fbr mechuriul bart of the century. Thic is 8 rtaggaing unount of -ti0 of their specific activitia. Suborg Vtrulizal .Lo t h t the production rate and utilt.tiorr d the transplutonium irotopa of not inc0nrequcnti.l amounts of radioactivity whcn one d d e n that the hdf-life of WCm im 18 yr and ofuIcf, 3.5 yr. The trend in annual rate of production of nVu reflects, of course, the increasing n~tionrl power needs over the next three decades before comme+cirl thamonuclur energy production m y become a technical urd economic dry. T h e fint reacton to supply commercial power mately 0.7% of natural uranium. Their m our cu of dum dim i ~ t athem u a candidate for meaing the nation's expanding power n d . The current gentration of power paid to 100 kg in 3980-1990 with the Mount datl by mdtip~yingby a factor or- 275, the per yr, rapectively, by the yr 2000.

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944 BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF WS URANIUM ELEM- FOR MAN Rok 4mPU in ckfuturr Tbt potential for production of -'Pu will iacrare directly with iacturing production d nuclear powa. In many rupeca "Pu k an idd fuel for dkbk thmnoelacmic generators having high ratio of powa output to *ht will continue to find numemu rrovd urd unique applications Y production upability such gmctrron 8rc hding and

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the neutron expowre of the recipient by climimting the e, n reaction that occun with biological, di and uucbaid problem there might be u much u 6oookg of mPu committed to thir umc by the tun of the fint injcctiom ofplutoaium into rats in April unequivocally that thir mabetid, taken into the body in rumcient quantity, will produce urd undoubtedly in mu^ If the rok d plutonium in our future cooaorny U to remotely buildup in man and hir environment One a n visualize a number of way8 whatby plutw-wn into thc enviroament. Potentially at Itllt, nuclear power pLnta can dirpure plutonium into the environment through improper dircharge of qrreour and liquid &uents and through accidenu that durupt the integrity of containment. Plutonium procaring and fab riution planb u n conurninate the environment through impropa gumus, liquid and solid waatc manyemcnt and through accidents such u hcibty fires and rtorrqe and tramportation mishap invdviag the raw matuiab as well as the procased or finLbed produck Plutonium-238 tbetmalcctric generaton can be involved .Lo in fabrication, transportation and deployment eidcnts. k erunpla, spmce power generators could k involved in launch with reentry and atmorphtnc burnup or impact divuptioa Contuniaatd a t e mtugernent, of course, i s of P yuwu nt impomncc in Thac potentid modu of environmental contaminatioa arc tabdated in Table 2. Thb presentation, however, u not meant to be 8 uy of doom and gloom but, rather, quite the contrary. The p0mti.l hurb of plutonium and concerted CRorra on the part of such othar were directed towud atsblirhmeat of plutonium protection criteria. The quantitative studia of urly mdiurn important ktor in atabliahment of prucnt ex pure guidu for plutonium u well u all continued the follow-up and merit of known C.YI of radium expowre and currently l u a obswrtionr on ova 650 cam. OnIy by knowing the body burdent in apoKdindividurJI with urd without oywt u p and iymptomr of radium poisoning could an approach be d e toward utabhhiag 8 harmful level. The arly obunmtiona of human cuaof radium exposure indicated that rip of dunage and even d u t h may occur with body bur dmu low u 1 pg of radium fixed in the bone for ICV ~ Ip n.Thee early oka rio a, were not referenced until 1943 ;llll however, they were wed in 1941 as the bash lor the fint recommendation of 0.1 pg u the tolarace dose for radium [Natiod Bureau of Staadudr Handbook H-27](lt'-8 vdue tb8t b still accepted. It w u recommended a h that the don concentration in the atmoc phere of workroomr should not aced 10-11

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ThcK expetimcnts werc the beginning of rttanpta to comprrc the met.tolirm and toxicity ofplutonium with radium and, through anid cxpcrimenutian, to provide better guidance far the protection d thare work ii with pIutonium. By the hat of brch 1945, urine .t)l)rlwere in attempcr to atimate cxpourc ol paronnel to plutonium. Body burden w u atim8td on w p ~thepmeu that far the mtandrrWit and, being 8ppliad both at ChiCrgO and h theuaumption that the aruetiw mtcin lpul rtady rL.* a t 0.01 of the body kvden pa 24 hr. I n April, tracer redia in hopelewlv ill subjccta were initiated through both the chi0 and La Alamor Laborataria (and a little later at the It i oak ht q at Berkeley) to atablkh thc humur urinary wu held at La h a with Dr. Hymer (Mediul Director of the Muhattan Dirrrict) henrim over tbt autorrdiagmphic rhldia of that plutuaium distribution in bonc wu much more nonrmitona than w u radium),theda*kn w u nude to introduce adcty factor d 5 and to Iowa the muimum allowable plutonium Cantril and H.M.P ark (by now at Hanfd) introduced a provkional body burdtn dO.5 pg memorandum report to Cantril dated 4 August, trrtion for plutmium UI plant and village drinking water. The tolerance concentration in village d riding water (- 10-2 pglcma, 6 X lo-' pCi/cm') w u bued on a maximum allowable body burden of 0.5 pg, a 60-yr effective atpaurc time,a plutonium absorption rate of 0.05% urd a water i n d c of 5 1.ld.y. to dkcm thae d y mula. Other puticipurta Thus, d u w the paiod 1943 through July 1946 (when the AEC MI aublirhod), hulth trict'r plutonium 0pa.riOnr evohred h m no tundvdr at dl LO tentdvtly accepted d u a for tk muimum dhble body burden d tolerance oonccnb.tioar in air d water. The maximum dhbk body butdea w u bued on urmputaa of auqy depoitiaa from plutonium ud 0.1 pCi d d u m wid 8 rrfety k c o r of 5 or 10 as prrcrutioa @rut the amtially de8igmted bone u the & ti4ogm. The air to hn ce eoncmtration MI bwd on a orporure in which it - u r d that 0.01 rcp/&y ddph diation ruched in 1 yr w u The wsta tokame uneurtration wu bucd on rate d int.ke that would rault in the mucimurn .Ilomble body burden in the appropriate t h e kme. when adjusted for acpaure time, th# cntua are not vutly dfl amt fraan tboac in w today. In lold the plutonium toxicity, inhalation bur h i t in the fam of drrrified summary md iattrpretin report~(**1'*~'*U-PIThe fint open huud goa perhap to Dn. Austin Brua, Hammn Ltco and Miriam FinM. Thir dirclaure wu in a manwcript entitled "Carci+c Action of Some Subr ~ n c uwhich may k a Problem in Certain Future Industria," dshrrifial on 31 July 1946.'"' O n 29 8nd 30 September 1949, the fint Tripartite (USA,UK and Canada) Pamissiblc Dau conlirrnct wu held at Chllr River, Ontario. At this meeting Dr. Brua reported that compmative bcity studia in mice and suggoted a toxicity ratio between equal microcurie amounts of plutonium m d radium of approximately 15-1. On thu hrir, the conference domed a dutonium bodv burden of The plant water tolmncc (5 x IO-' or 3 x lo-* @/em8) was bued on the same allowable body burden, a working uporure time of 30 yr and a daily water intake of 2 1. rpondiig mudmum levela for air and water. A meeting in Wuhington D.C.,was called on 25 January 1950 by Dr. Shields Warren to decide

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D18 BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE TRANSURANIUM ELEMEKLS FOR MAN whcn the numben in brackets rrpraurt thc ratio dcnagia imputed b mnn a d rodent &xn d u m md ib rcbinod decay products. h t the AEC O parti oar owld procad on the 0.1 ~d um) and th eum air and zinrl as it waa modified in acamhnce with suggatim recaved kom the variow ddqpta, including Dr. BNQ’ modification d tbe 15-1 toxicity ratio of plutonium to radium. In thc port for February, Mucb and April 1951,(“’ 6bie plutonium body burdaa for manwu based: “The tnxicity ratio between radium and plutonium has beur du8tCd kom the d8ta of a to plutonium, ue: In May 1950 the cuudun- (1) for .cute toxicity to small 8nimpk, 15

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It u my contention that m know more 8bUt the phyriology, toxicdogy and indualrial medical control of plutonium than any other clement in thc periodic table and that the impliutioru of plutonium and, Ca thrt mttCI, the otha trrrwranic dements for mm need in no way be pcrimirtic. Further )urowledglc ofthe biological eirceh ofthae d u l aubataoca will k Forthcoming u cvidmccd by tht pmentations at thii rymparium. The prrvtation of envimamcntal awrwnination will d y on sound, cfrcctivc cnginraing. Thia dtective engineering will be under continwl aurvtilLncc with appropriate and prhl wthoda d monitoring co~tuni~tionImL in man and course, that we know now all that w e need to With the pjectcd role of plutonium and the other transuraniu in our future economy, work will h v e to conlinuc on tbek hidogid effects, their cn&ariw and bealth physia control and a variety of Mhcr problamr both of a pmctid and M e nature. The mmt buic of 111 pmbluzu immlva the radiation induction This is buic not only to radiation but to the very c a w of cancer iuelf. Other problems or

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950 BIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE TRANS U MUM ELEMENTS FOR MAN utimrtion of exposwe under thir condition t d e r than torthe scatad, rwC aporurc is dependent om .it conccntrab at the point of interat, particle size d hi it ion, inhalation rate, time dap a urc and cbuaiul form of the plutonium. Of course, if one w i s h to relate apoturr back to the prirnvy wwet term (e+ M e from 8 procaring plant stack), the problem is fu more compkx. The problem now rcquira codduation of. long kt of additional dbls involving metcorologiul factors and phylierl aspects of the specific incident. The scad mode of apaurc, inhalation of ruuintroduction of cvcn morc variabla, MIW ofwhich arc poorly defined if at all. This mode of ~ p c a u r ch rcpraented on the right of Fig. 2. The problem now ia to atimate inhalation atponve of an individual living in 8 conuminrted area for 8 Life time or any fraction m.Undoubtedly, expaure will depend on how much of the source term (in this case, the -t of plutonium dcpaoitcd on the surface) geta ruurpended into the brerthing zone [that on 18t*ggering number ofintardated variabla bulence, wid vdocity, Nnlll, etc.). In addition, the frrrction of the source term wia with time 8t ~ o m crate intemhted to ruch other kcton u mil type, vqetativc cover, raintll, etc. This attenuation d the source term u duignatcd as A, in Fii. 2 andhubeen utimrted at -40 days tot prevailing conditions at the AEC'r Nevada T a t Site. In cue there art not complications enough, still another is the unount d leu( phyriul activity (vehicular traffic, gruing tattle, plowing, etc) in the area which, incidentally, will alw perturb 1,. At pram t at leut, it is virtually impossible to calculate apurc in this nituation from first Chronic inhalation of mataid discharged directly to the atmaophae or rMupendcd from rccumuhtcd deposition and the longterm effects d such inhltd material on the lungs, lymph des and lim .cT the pdng

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d V C 0 h r sac near termination of the cuboid.1 epithelium in a respiratory bronchiole.