Occupational health and environmental reseach program of the Health Division 1980. Status report

The primary responsibility of the Health Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is to provide effective health, safety, waste processing, and environmental programs for the Laboratory. During 1980, several new technical areas of radiobiological literature assessment were started that may be applicable to standards development. These areas include a new method for comparison of long-term effects of internal emitters in different species, a review of plutonium concentration in gonads, and preliminary study of plutonium distribution between bone and liver. Industrial hygiene studies were directed particularly toward the evaluation of potential hazards involved in the emerging oil shale industry. This work involved field surveys, aerosol production for inhalation toxicology experiments, and assistance in design of a controlled laboratory retort. Work was done on studies of resuspension of particles in controlled wind tunnel experiments. Instrumentation development resulted in a new type of prototype particulate stack sampler and a fluorescent lidar system that monitors the dispersal of atmospheric pollutants in real time over distances up to 8 kilometers. Investigation of human health effects that may be associated with exposures to plutonium and other transuranium radionuclides continues as a major effort. The national epidemiology study of plutonium workers at four Department of Energy facilities was devoted primarily to records ascertainment. An important study was completed on the validity of determining mortality status through the Social Security Administration. The study showed ascertainment of death was strongly related to the individual's age at the time of death. Analysis for plutonium and americium in human autopsy tissues was continued for both transuranium workers and for base-line studies of persons in the general population