Coefficients of doses and evaluation of inhalation of contaminated dust. Applications of the new kinetic models of ICRP

The aim of this work was to provide an experimental basis for assessing the appropriate limits on intake for humans inadvertently exposed by inhalation of contaminated dust resulting from the aviation accident at Palomares. Respirable fractions of dusts obtained from four different soil fractions with defined mineralogical, chemical and isotopic composition were administered to rats by intratracheal installation and assessments made of the amounts of ''239 Pu and ''241 Am absorbed into blood up to ly after exposure. Recommendations for the dose coefficients for the dusts and predictions of the biokinetics of these actinides in members of the public were made by using the absorption parameters calculated from the animal studies in conjunction with human data from the most recent biokinetic models published by the International Commission on Radiological protection (ICRP). It is concluded that the most appropriate dose coefficients for adult members of the public, 10y old and 1yr old children are 2,3,10''5, 2,6.10''-5 and 4,8.10''-5 Sv Bq''-1 respectively. Assessments of intake of the dust by external measurements of ''241 Am in the chest would be of limited values for assessing intakes by adults but measurements of ''239Pu in urine could be used with advantage if fission track or mass spectrometric methods of analysis are used. (Author) 18 refs