The biokinetics of ruthenium in the human body

The biokinetics of ruthenium (Ru) in the human body is of interest due mainly to the potential for occupational or environmental exposure to 106Ru (T1/2 = 373.6 d) and 103Ru (T1/2 = 39.3 d), which typically represent a significant portion of the fission products in a reactor inventory. During reactor operations or nuclear fuel reprocessing these ruthenium isotopes may be present as ruthenium tetroxide (RuO4) vapor, a highly mobile form of ruthenium that has been involved in a number of cases of accidental exposure to 106Ru or 103Ru. This paper summarizes the biokinetic database for ruthenium and proposes a new respiratory model for inhaled RuO4 vapor, a new biokinetic for systemic (absorbed) ruthenium, and material-specific gastrointestinal absorption fractions for ruthenium. The proposed respiratory model for RuO4 differs from the current ICRP model mainly in that it depicts slower clearance of deposited activity from the respiratory tract and lower absorption to blood than depicted in the current ICRP model. The proposed systemic biokinetic model depicts more realistic paths of movement of absorbed ruthenium in the body than the current ICRP model and, in contrast to the present model, a less uniform distribution of systemic activity. Implications of the proposed models with regard to inhalation and ingestion dose coefficients for 106Ru are examined.