AOU Ld
BROOKHAVEN
NATIONAL
LABORATORY
MEMORANDUM
.
LOST COPY AVAILABLE
,
Question:
[s it
TO:
: an
ution
Distrib
|
FROM:
F. Cua
SUBJECT:
Determination of Pu Bone Burden
Through Teeth Analysis
ql
1978
AEp
celevant and weighty enough for a 189 from DBER?
Outline of PF.
I.
21,
November
DATE:
oP.
Objective 1:
Cuats Research Proposal:
‘fo develop an alternative technique to urine
calculation of
low
level
plutonium bone
burden--namely,
the
sampling for the
determination
of
plutonium activity concentration in-teeth samples.
Rationale L:
Current state-of-the-art technique for the analysis of Pu in
urine
is
samples
such
that
the minimum detectable
limit
is
in
the
region
of
the range of activity concentration of Pu in Marshall Islands urine samples.
In addition, bioassay sampling suffers from several deficiencies:
assumption has to be made on the model of Pu distribution and excretion;
counting statistics, chemical recovery and uncertainty of a 24 hour
urine sample results in errors that average 25%.
a)
b)
Objective 2;
Pu
‘lo develop a
ingested can
be
obtained
technique whereby the fraction of Pu inhaled versus
and
thereby
serve
as
a
cross~check
to
the
current
method of vegetation-diet study and air-sampling resuspension program--namely,
the autoradiography of teeth samples.
Rationale 2:
Dose assessment through environmental monitoring in the Marshall
Islands suffers from the following deficiencies:
a)
use of models
b)
animal data to reference man;
assumption of constant continuous uptake which certainly is not the
c)
difficulties
case;
for Pu distribution and retention extrapolated from
in continuous air sampling due to lack of power in the
islands.
Note:
LI.
‘The proposed study will make use of animal data and will need certain
unavoidable assumptions, but they are by far more controllable and less
uncertain,
Yeeth samples From animals under study at the following laboratories:
Materials:
Definite:
a)
Battelle Northwest Laboratory
beagle bogs - 238pu0),
,
9004554
and
(c/o J.
239pud,,
injection
F.
Park,
FITS 8-444-3375)
239Pu(NO3)4 inhalation studies
studies
(to be
verified)