A model study on the absorbed dose of radiation following respiratory intake of 238U3O8 aerosols

Abstract

Aerosols of depleted uranium oxides, formed upon high-energy impact of shells on hard targets during military operations, are able to disperse, reach the alveolar region of the lungs and be absorbed and distributed throughout various parts of the body. The absorbed particles are subjected to clearance in the upper respiratory tract, distribution to other body districts, dissolution and excretion. While the soluble forms of uranium are known to deliver a small dose of radiation to the body due to their homogeneous distribution and the low specific activity of (238)U, ceramic particles exhibit a low dissolution rate and irradiate a limited volume of tissue for a long time with alpha particles with an energy of 4.267 MeV. The extent of the irradiated tissues depends on the radius of the particles and the total intake of uranium oxides. For the measured intake of U3O8 of a war veteran (15.51 μg) the number of particles ranges from 5.56×10(4) to 6.95×10(6) for sizes of 0.4-2.0 μm. Modelling the distribution of the particles between two compartments of the body, the averaged dose absorbed in 20 y by tissues surrounding the particles and within the range of the alpha particles varies from 6.8 mGy to 0.85 Gy for lungs and 8.1 mGy to 1.0 Gy for the lymph nodes, respectively. Correspondingly, due to the clearance and redistribution, the mass irradiated by 2.0-μm particles falls in 20 y from 6.06 mg to 0.94 μg in the lungs and grows from 0 to 1.0 mg in the lymph nodes. The estimated rate of formation of hydroxyl radicals upon radiolysis of water in the lungs and lymph nodes is 5.17×10(4) d(-1) per cell after 1 y.