Transfer factors across the human gut for plutonium and americium in shellfish from near Sellafield

Data on gut transfer factors for environmental forms of radionuclides are essential for estimates of public radiation exposures following ingestion, and thus in decisions on controlling waste disposals. Dose estimates for transuranic nuclides are particularly sensitive to uncertainties stemming from gut transfer data being related to non-environmental forms and/or derived from animal experiments. The main parameter in question is f1, the fraction of intake reaching human body fluids following ingestion, as applied in the model of the gastro-intestinal tract used by the ICRP. The ICRP have recently reviewed the metabolism of plutonium and related elements (ICRP, 1986). Values of f1 were derived from animal data; limited verification was provided by the only human data then available which was based on the low levels of fallout in foodstuffs. The ICRP proposed a cautious value of f1 of 10-3 for unknown or mixed compounds of Pu and for other actinides. However, it was recognised that this cautious value may not be appropriate in all situations where a best estimate of absorption is required; in such cases, if a different value more suitable to the specific situation can be justified, it should be employed