A generic biokinetic model for noble gases with application to radon

Abstract

To facilitate the estimation of radiation doses from intake of radionuclides, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) publishes dose coefficients (dose per unit intake) based on reference biokinetic and dosimetric models. The ICRP generally has not provided biokinetic models or dose coefficients for intake of noble gases, but plans to provide such information for 222Rn and other important radioisotopes of noble gases in a forthcoming series of reports on occupational intake of radionuclides (OIR). This paper proposes a generic biokinetic model framework for noble gases and develops parameter values for radon. The framework is tailored to applications in radiation protection and is consistent with a physiologically based biokinetic modelling scheme adopted for the OIR series. Parameter values for a noble gas are based largely on a blood flow model and physical laws governing transfer of a non-reactive and soluble gas between materials. Model predictions for radon are shown to be consistent with results of controlled studies of its biokinetics in human subjects.