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Hair as an indicator of the body content of polonium in humans: preliminary results from study of five male volunteers.

Rääf, Christopher LU ; Holstein, Hanna LU ; Holm, Elis LU and Roos, P (2015) In Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 141. p.71-75
Abstract
The radionuclide (210)Po is of importance from a radiation protection view and has properties that cause special problems when attempting to determine the body content in humans. Estimates have traditionally been made from either urine and/or fecal samples, which require a time-consuming radiochemical preparation before alpha spectrometric determination. In order to find a more simple and less labor intensive method hair has been used as a bioindicator and investigated in this study. The relationship between intake and excretion in hair has been estimated in five volunteers who ingested radioactive polonium ((209)Po as a bio-tracer for (210)Po) in well determined quantities. Four of the volunteers were given 5-10 Bq (209)Po in a single... (More)
The radionuclide (210)Po is of importance from a radiation protection view and has properties that cause special problems when attempting to determine the body content in humans. Estimates have traditionally been made from either urine and/or fecal samples, which require a time-consuming radiochemical preparation before alpha spectrometric determination. In order to find a more simple and less labor intensive method hair has been used as a bioindicator and investigated in this study. The relationship between intake and excretion in hair has been estimated in five volunteers who ingested radioactive polonium ((209)Po as a bio-tracer for (210)Po) in well determined quantities. Four of the volunteers were given 5-10 Bq (209)Po in a single intake (acute intake) and one volunteer has ingested a daily intake of 58.7 mBq (209)Po for a period of 180 d. Human hair was found to reflect the daily clearance of ingested polonium peaking at 0.001-0.01% d(-1) of the ingested amount, thereafter decreasing mono-exponentially, corresponding to a biological half-time of 10-20 days. For the case of protracted intake a mono-exponential build-up was observed with a half-time of 40 ± 5 d. In addition, after cessation of intake, a short-term component (74%) with a biological half-time of 16 ± 4 d, and a long-term component (26%) with a half-time of 93 ± 53 d were observed. It is concluded that hair can be used to detect not only the amount of ingested polonium but also whether the intake was protracted or acute. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
volume
141
pages
71 - 75
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:25557609
  • wos:000352173300011
  • scopus:84920901731
  • pmid:25557609
ISSN
1879-1700
DOI
10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.12.004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2225caaa-f74b-42a1-8b82-dca0f7cc8df9 (old id 5041459)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25557609?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:01:15
date last changed
2022-01-25 19:00:32
@article{2225caaa-f74b-42a1-8b82-dca0f7cc8df9,
  abstract     = {{The radionuclide (210)Po is of importance from a radiation protection view and has properties that cause special problems when attempting to determine the body content in humans. Estimates have traditionally been made from either urine and/or fecal samples, which require a time-consuming radiochemical preparation before alpha spectrometric determination. In order to find a more simple and less labor intensive method hair has been used as a bioindicator and investigated in this study. The relationship between intake and excretion in hair has been estimated in five volunteers who ingested radioactive polonium ((209)Po as a bio-tracer for (210)Po) in well determined quantities. Four of the volunteers were given 5-10 Bq (209)Po in a single intake (acute intake) and one volunteer has ingested a daily intake of 58.7 mBq (209)Po for a period of 180 d. Human hair was found to reflect the daily clearance of ingested polonium peaking at 0.001-0.01% d(-1) of the ingested amount, thereafter decreasing mono-exponentially, corresponding to a biological half-time of 10-20 days. For the case of protracted intake a mono-exponential build-up was observed with a half-time of 40 ± 5 d. In addition, after cessation of intake, a short-term component (74%) with a biological half-time of 16 ± 4 d, and a long-term component (26%) with a half-time of 93 ± 53 d were observed. It is concluded that hair can be used to detect not only the amount of ingested polonium but also whether the intake was protracted or acute.}},
  author       = {{Rääf, Christopher and Holstein, Hanna and Holm, Elis and Roos, P}},
  issn         = {{1879-1700}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{71--75}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Environmental Radioactivity}},
  title        = {{Hair as an indicator of the body content of polonium in humans: preliminary results from study of five male volunteers.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.12.004}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.12.004}},
  volume       = {{141}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}