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Radiation dose assessment of exposure to depleted uranium

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 19, pages 502–514 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Depleted uranium (DU) is claimed to contribute to human health problems, known as the Gulf War Syndrome and the Balkan Syndrome. Quantitative radiation dose is required to estimate the health risk of DU materials. The influences of the solubility parameters in the human alimentary tract and the respiratory tract systems and the aerosol particles size on the radiation dose of DU materials were evaluated. The dose conversion factor of daily urinary excretion of DU is provided. The retention and excretion of DU in the human body after a contamination at a wound site were predicted. Dose coefficients of DU after ingestion and inhalation were calculated using the solubility parameters of the DU corrosion products in simulated gastric and simulated lung fluid, which were determined in the Helmholtz Zentrum München. 238U is the main radiation dose contributor per 1 Bq of DU materials. The dose coefficients of DU materials were estimated to be 3.5 × 10−8 and 2.1 × 10−6 Sv Bq−1 after ingestion and inhalation for members of the public. The ingestion dose coefficient of DU materials is about 75% of the natural uranium value. The inhalation dose coefficient of DU material is in between those for Type M and Type S according to the category for inhaled materials defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Radiation dose possibly received from DU materials can directly be estimated by using the dose conversion factor provided in this study, if daily urinary excretion of DU is measured.

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Acknowledgements

This study was in part supported by the German Ministry of Defence under the contract no. InSan I-0701-V-3803. We thank Herwig G. Paretzke for support, and Augusto Giussani and Matthias Greiter for discussions on the model of gastrointestinal absorption of DU materials. We also thank the reviewers for valuable comments.

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  1. Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany

    Wei Bo Li, Udo C Gerstmann, Vera Höllriegl, Wilfried Szymczak, Paul Roth, Christoph Hoeschen & Uwe Oeh

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  1. Wei Bo Li
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Correspondence to Wei Bo Li.

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Li, W., Gerstmann, U., Höllriegl, V. et al. Radiation dose assessment of exposure to depleted uranium. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 19, 502–514 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2008.40

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