Excretion of 210Pb and 210Po by workers in an area with high levels of atmospheric radon, and estimates of exposure to short-lived radon daughters

The urinary excretion rates of 210Pb were used to estimate the exposure to 222Rn and its short-lived daughter-products for 12 persons who worked at an industrial site formerly used for the processing of uranium ores. The geometric mean excretion rates of 210Pb and 210Po of 0.86 and 1.93 pCi/day were significantly above normal environmental levels. The mean value of the available 210Pb (that in the soft tissue) was estimated from the excretion rates of 210Po to be about 2.6 nCi. The geometric mean lung exposure derived from the 210Pb excretion rates was estimated at 0.41 WL based on a conversion factor of 1.49 pCi day-1 WL-1. This mean did not agree with the mean value of 0.14 WL that had been estimated from radon decay products in the atmosphere of the building