Radiation doses resulting from incorporated radioactive cesium isotopes

Age-dependent dose factors are given for inhaled or ingested cesium isotopes, which have been calculated on the basis of published data on the biokinetics of cesium in the human organism. Tabulated data are presented for Cs-129, Cs-130, Cs-131, Cs-132, Cs-134, Cs-135, Cs-136, Cs-137(+Ba-137m), and Cs-138. Comparison of results obtained for adults with relevant data published by the ICRP (1978), the NCRP (1977), and Schwarz (1982) shows very good agreement. More significant deviations are however found when comparing the results with data given in the Federal German Radiation Protection Ordinance, both with regard to adults and to infants, particularly refering to the lung data and to those for the gastro-intestinal tract and the skeleton. These discrepancies are primarily due to improved models developed since the time the Radiation Protection Ordinance has been issued, (respiratory and gastro-intestinal tracts), and to improvements achieved with the dosimetric concepts (calculation of dose for bone surfaces instead of the whole skeleton). The dose factors for newborn given by the publication in hand are significantly lower than those given in the Ordinance (for infants); this is a result of age-dependent retention functions having been considered for this publication. The reliability of the dose factor calculations for various ages, pregnant women and fetuses is discussed and quantified. (orig./HP)