Industrial hygiene group

Inhalation is the most likely and potentially hazardous route for exposure to environmental pollutants, and developmental studies of filter efficiency, particle production characterization, and resuspension are being conducted to define proper containment conditions in the work place. To date, these studies have emphasized containment and characterization of radionuclides but provide the basis for investigating a broader spectrum of industrial pollutants. To determine the extent of plutonium exposure in man, several coordinated studies also are being conducted to measure lung burden distribution in occupationally exposed populations, the amount of plutonium in tissues from the general population, the health of LASL plutonium workers, and assessment of the health impact of plutonium in the environment