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Polonium
12. POLONIUM Uptake to blood (113) Adults. Few data are available regarding the fractional absorption of inorganic polonium (PO) in man. An f, value of approximately 0.1 was determined in a single male with chronic myelogenous leukaemia (Fink, 1950). In rats, fractional absorption values of 0.03-0.06 were determined using an unspecified polonium compound (Anthony et al., 1956). Della Rosa et al. (1955) measured fractional absorption of 0.06 in mature rats given polonium chloride by gavage. Similarly, fi values of 0.04-0.06 for polonium as the nitrate and 0.06-0.08 for the citrate were obtained (Naylor et al., 1991). Data from humans consuming meat from reindeer exposed to 210Po suggest that polonium incorporated in food may have an f, of 5-25 times that of inorganic polonium compounds, values of around 0.3 to 0.5 having been estimated (Hill, 1965; Kauranen and Miettinen, 1967; Landinskaya et af., 1973). Rats absorbed approximately 50% of polonium biologically incorporated into goat’s milk. This value is higher than is typically observed for inorganic polonium absorption in rats (McInroy et al., 1972). Similarly, experiments in rats ingesting polonium biologically incorporated into rat liver yielded values of fi of 0.10-0.12 which are at least twice those which have been obtained using inorganic polonium compounds (Naylor et af., 1991). In a recent human volunteer study of the absorption of 210Po from crabmeat, Hunt et al. (1993) estimated absorption to be about 0.8. ICRP (1979) previously recommended an f, value of 0.1 for workers. In the present report, an fr value of 0.5 has been adopted for dietary intakes of PO by adult members of the public. (114) Children. There appear to be no data available for estimating an f, value for infants and children. Therefore, following the general approach of the NEA/OECD expert group (NEA/OECD, 1988), an fi value of 1.0 for polonium is adopted here for the 3-month-old infant. For children of 1 year and older the fi value for the adult (0.5) is used here. Distribution and retention (115) Adults. Polonium entering the bloodstream is deposited predominantly in soft tissues. In rats injected intravenously with polonium, the concentration in the reticuloendothelial system is approximately 10 times that in other soft tissues, with lower concentrations in the muscle and cortical bone (Stannard and Cassarett, 1964). In studies of beagle dogs exposed to an aerosol containing 210Po the activity translocated to the blood was deposited mainly in the liver, kidneys and spleen (Smith et al., 1961). In humans, highest concentrations have been found in liver, lung, kidney and rib with respect to intakes of naturally occurring 210Po (Chen, 1987). In a study on rats values of ll%, 7% and 5% were obtained for deposition in the liver, kidneys and spleen, respectively, 10 days after intravenous injection of 210Po as the chloride (Fink, 1950). Fink also obtained values for a single human suffering from acute leukaemia at 6 days after injection of 210Poas the chloride, which showed approximately 40%, 5% and 4% of injected activity retained in the liver, kidneys and spleen, respectively. Naylor et al. (1991) have reported that in marmosets the highest deposit of 210Powas in the liver (26% of the total body activity) at 1 week after i.v. injection as the citrate, with appreciable deposits in the kidney (21%) and much less in the spleen and testes (1% and 81
82
REPORT
OF A TASK GROUP OF COMMITTEE
2
0.5%, respectively). The femora contained 1.5% of the retained activity, which corresponds to a skeletal deposit of about 15% of the total systemic deposit. At 4 weeks the tissue distribution was similar to that found at 7 days, although the femoral activity had fallen to 0.75% of the total body activity. In rats, retention of polonium in the liver, kidney, spleen and femora at 1 week after i.v. injection of 210Po as the citrate has been reported to be 7.8%, 5.3%, 7.3% and 0.69%, respectively (Naylor et al., 1991). (116) More than 50% of polonium entering the blood is excreted in faeces (Fink, 1950; Stannard and Cassarett, 1964; Fellman et al., 1989). Whole-body retention halftimes for polonium have been estimated to be 30 days (ICRP, 1960) and 50 days (Jackson and Dolphin, 1964; ICRP, 1968, 1979). The biokinetic model for polonium in ZCRP Publication 30 (ICRP, 1979) assumed that of polonium entering the blood, fractions 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and 0.7 go to the liver, kidneys, spleen and all other tissues, respectively, and are retained there with a half-time of 50 days. The more recent data discussed above suggest that it is appropriate to take account of deposits in the bone marrow in assessing tissue doses. Recent autoradiographic studies also indicate that virtually all skeletal polonium is retained in the marrow (Naylor et al., 1991). It is therefore assumed that all polonium retained in the skeleton is associated with the red bone marrow. For the purposes of dose calculations, it has therefore been assumed that of polonium entering the systemic circulation the fractions 30%, lo%, 5%, 10% and 45% are deposited in the liver, kidneys, spleen, red bone marrow and the rest of the body, respectively, where it is retained with a half-time of 50 days. A urinary to faecal excretion ratio of 1:2 is assumed for polonium that has entered the transfer compartment. (117) Children. Two studies involving a total of 14 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 15 years exposed to 210Po indicated a half-time of retention of about 40 days (Guskova et al., 1964; Kalmykov et uZ., 1969). This value is not significantly different from the measured values for adults. The distribution and retention of polonium are assumed to be independent of age. Dose coejjkients (118) Dose coefficients are given in Table 12.-2.
derived from the biokinetic
data summarized
in Table 12.-l
Table 12.-l. Biokinetic data for polonium
Distribution
Biological half-time (days)
(%)
Age
fi
Liver
Kidney
Spleen
Red bone marrow
Other tissues
All tissues
3 months 1 year 5 years 10 years 15 years Adult
1 .O 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
30 30 30 30 30 30
10 10 10 10 10 10
5 5 5 5 5 5
10 10 10 10 10 10
45 45 45 45 45 45
50 50 50 50 50 50
A urinary compartment.
to faecal excretion
ratio of 1:2 is assumed
for polonium
that has entered
the transfer
AGE-DEPENDENT
DOSES
FROM
INTAKE
83
OF RADIONUCLIDES
Table12.-2
Ingestion Dose Coefficients (EquivalentDose (Sv/Bq) to Age 70 Years) for PO-210 (T1/2 - 138.38 d)
Age at intake
3 Months
1 Year
5 Years
10
Adrenals Bladder Wall Bone Surfaces Brain Breast GI-Tract St Wall SI Wall ULI Wall LLI Wall Kidneys Liver Lungs Muscle Ovaries Pancreas Red Marrow Skin Spleen Testes Thymus Thyroid Uterus Remainder
4.63-06 4.63-06 6.43-05 4.63-06 4.63-06
2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.31-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06
9.8E-07 9.8E-07 8.9E-06 9.83-07 9.81-07
4.63-06 4.63-06 4.73-06 4.93-06 1.4E-04 8.83-05 4.6E-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 6.53-05 4.63-06 1.8E-04 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 9.33-05
2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.1E-06 2.33-06 6.1E-05 4.OE-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.6E-05 2.OE-06 7.6E-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 3.93-05
2.1E-05
8.83-06
15 Years
Adult
5.81-07 5.8&-07 4.71-06 5.83-07 5.83-07
3.43-07 3.43-07 2.83-06 3.43-07 3.43-07
2.83-07 2.83-07 1.6E-06 2.83-07 2.83-07
9.81-07 9.83-07 l.OE-06 l.lE-06 3.43-05 2.OE-05 9.81-07 9.8E-07 9.8E-07 9.81-07 1.2E-05 9.8E-07 4.1E-05 9.83-07 9.83-07 9.83-07 9.8E-07 2.1E-05
5.83-07 5.98-07 6.1E-07 6.7E-07 2.3E-05 1.3E-05 5.83-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 6.43-06 5.83-07 2.53-05 5.83-07 5.8E-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 1.3E-05
3.43-07 3.43-07 3.63-07 3.91-07 1.6E-05 8.4E-06 3.4E-07 3.41-07 3.41-07 3.4E-07 3.81-06 3.43-07 1.6E-05 3.43-07 3.43-07 3.43-07 3.43-07 8.23-06
2.83-07 2.83-07 2.93-07 3.21-07 1.3E-05 6.6E-06 2.8E-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 2.61-06 2.83-07 l.lE-05 2.8E-07 2.8E-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 6.63-06
4.43-06
2.61-06
1.6E-06
1.2E-06
Years
--~~__~_-____~~----_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__~~~~~~~~_______~______________ Effective Dose GI-Tract St SI ULI LLI
GastrointestinalTract Stomach Small Intestine Upper Large Intestine Lower Large Intestine
References Anthony,D. S.,Davis,R. K., Cowden, R. N. and Jolley, W. P. (1956) Experimental data useful in establishing maximum single and multiple exposure to polonium. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses ofAtomic Energy, Vol. 13, pp. 215-218. United Nations, New York. Chen, X. (1987) Body content of some naturally occurring radioisotopes in Chinese people. NRPB Bull. 84, 13-20.
Della Rosa, R. J., Thomas, R. G. and Stannard, J. N. (1955) University of Rochester, UR-392. Fellman, A., Ralston, L., Hickman, D., Ayres, L. and Cohen, N. (1989) The importance of acid digestion of urine prior to spontaneous deposition of *t”Po. Health Phys. 57,615-621. Fink, R. M. (1950) Biological Studies with Polonium, Radium and Plutonium. McGraw-Hill, London. Guskova, A. K., Drutman, R. D., Malysheva, M. S. and Soldatova, V. A. (1964) The assessment of doses and the possibility of clinical recognition of the disease associated with PO*to affection. Med. Radiol. 9(8), 5160.
Hill, C. R. (1965) *“‘Polonium in man. Nature 208,423-428.
84
REPORT
OF A TASK GROUP OF COMMITTEE
2
Hunt, G. J. and Allington, D. J. (1993) Absorption of environmental polonium-210 by the human gut. J. Radial. Prot. 13(2), 119-126. ICRP (1960) A Report by Committee 2 of ICRP. Health Phys. 3,217-220. ICRP (1968) Evaluation of Radiation Doses to Body Tissues from Internal Contamination due to Occupational Exposure. A Report by Committee 4 of ICRP. ICRP Publication 10. Pergamon Press, Oxford. ICRP (1979) Limits for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers: Part I, ICRP Publication 30. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Jackson, S. and Dolphin, G. W. (1966) The estimation of internal radiation dose from metabolic and urinary excretion data in a number of important radionuclides. Health Phys. 12,481-500. Kalmykov, L. Z., Krupchitskaya, K. T., Stratienko, U. V. and Rutkevitch, N. Y. (1969) Characteristics of “‘PO removal from the human body. Med. Radiol. 14(12), 26-30. Kauranen, P. and Miettinen, J. K. (1967) *‘OPo and 210Pb in environmental samples in Finland. In: Radiological Concentration Processes (B. Aberg and F. P. Hungate, Eds), pp. 275-280. Proc. Symp. Stockholm, April 25-29,1966. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Landinskaya, L. A., Parfenov, Y. D., Popov, D. K. and Federova, A. V. (1973) 210Pb and 210Pocontent of air, water, foodstuffs, and the human body. Arch. Environ. Health 27,254-258. McInroy, J. F., Watters, R. L. and Johnson, J. E. (1972) Polonium-210 absorption in rats: Effects of biological modification. Nature New Biof. 236,118-120. Naylor, G. P. L., Bonas, H. E., Haines, J. W., Ham, G. J., Harrison, J. D., Sundaram, S. and Dayan, A. D. (1991). The gastrointestinal absorption and tissue distribution of alpha-emitting actinide isotopes and polonium-210. The British Nuclear Energy Society Conference: Occupational Radiation Protection, Guernsey. Thomas Telford, London, pp. 291-296. NEA/OECD (1988) Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health. A Report of an Expert Group on Gut Transfer Factors. NEA/OECD Report, Paris, 47-49. Smith, F. A., Morrow, P. E. et al. (1961) Distribution and excretion studies in dogs exposed to an aerosol containing polonium-210. Am. Znd. Hyg. Ass. J. 22,201-208. Stannard, J. N. and Cassarett, G. W. (1964). Metabolism and biological effects of an alpha-emitter, polonium210. Academic Press, New York.
82
REPORT
OF A TASK GROUP OF COMMITTEE
2
0.5%, respectively). The femora contained 1.5% of the retained activity, which corresponds to a skeletal deposit of about 15% of the total systemic deposit. At 4 weeks the tissue distribution was similar to that found at 7 days, although the femoral activity had fallen to 0.75% of the total body activity. In rats, retention of polonium in the liver, kidney, spleen and femora at 1 week after i.v. injection of 210Po as the citrate has been reported to be 7.8%, 5.3%, 7.3% and 0.69%, respectively (Naylor et al., 1991). (116) More than 50% of polonium entering the blood is excreted in faeces (Fink, 1950; Stannard and Cassarett, 1964; Fellman et al., 1989). Whole-body retention halftimes for polonium have been estimated to be 30 days (ICRP, 1960) and 50 days (Jackson and Dolphin, 1964; ICRP, 1968, 1979). The biokinetic model for polonium in ZCRP Publication 30 (ICRP, 1979) assumed that of polonium entering the blood, fractions 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and 0.7 go to the liver, kidneys, spleen and all other tissues, respectively, and are retained there with a half-time of 50 days. The more recent data discussed above suggest that it is appropriate to take account of deposits in the bone marrow in assessing tissue doses. Recent autoradiographic studies also indicate that virtually all skeletal polonium is retained in the marrow (Naylor et al., 1991). It is therefore assumed that all polonium retained in the skeleton is associated with the red bone marrow. For the purposes of dose calculations, it has therefore been assumed that of polonium entering the systemic circulation the fractions 30%, lo%, 5%, 10% and 45% are deposited in the liver, kidneys, spleen, red bone marrow and the rest of the body, respectively, where it is retained with a half-time of 50 days. A urinary to faecal excretion ratio of 1:2 is assumed for polonium that has entered the transfer compartment. (117) Children. Two studies involving a total of 14 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 15 years exposed to 210Po indicated a half-time of retention of about 40 days (Guskova et al., 1964; Kalmykov et uZ., 1969). This value is not significantly different from the measured values for adults. The distribution and retention of polonium are assumed to be independent of age. Dose coejjkients (118) Dose coefficients are given in Table 12.-2.
derived from the biokinetic
data summarized
in Table 12.-l
Table 12.-l. Biokinetic data for polonium
Distribution
Biological half-time (days)
(%)
Age
fi
Liver
Kidney
Spleen
Red bone marrow
Other tissues
All tissues
3 months 1 year 5 years 10 years 15 years Adult
1 .O 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
30 30 30 30 30 30
10 10 10 10 10 10
5 5 5 5 5 5
10 10 10 10 10 10
45 45 45 45 45 45
50 50 50 50 50 50
A urinary compartment.
to faecal excretion
ratio of 1:2 is assumed
for polonium
that has entered
the transfer
AGE-DEPENDENT
DOSES
FROM
INTAKE
83
OF RADIONUCLIDES
Table12.-2
Ingestion Dose Coefficients (EquivalentDose (Sv/Bq) to Age 70 Years) for PO-210 (T1/2 - 138.38 d)
Age at intake
3 Months
1 Year
5 Years
10
Adrenals Bladder Wall Bone Surfaces Brain Breast GI-Tract St Wall SI Wall ULI Wall LLI Wall Kidneys Liver Lungs Muscle Ovaries Pancreas Red Marrow Skin Spleen Testes Thymus Thyroid Uterus Remainder
4.63-06 4.63-06 6.43-05 4.63-06 4.63-06
2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.31-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06
9.8E-07 9.8E-07 8.9E-06 9.83-07 9.81-07
4.63-06 4.63-06 4.73-06 4.93-06 1.4E-04 8.83-05 4.6E-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 6.53-05 4.63-06 1.8E-04 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 4.63-06 9.33-05
2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.1E-06 2.33-06 6.1E-05 4.OE-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.6E-05 2.OE-06 7.6E-05 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 2.OE-06 3.93-05
2.1E-05
8.83-06
15 Years
Adult
5.81-07 5.8&-07 4.71-06 5.83-07 5.83-07
3.43-07 3.43-07 2.83-06 3.43-07 3.43-07
2.83-07 2.83-07 1.6E-06 2.83-07 2.83-07
9.81-07 9.83-07 l.OE-06 l.lE-06 3.43-05 2.OE-05 9.81-07 9.8E-07 9.8E-07 9.81-07 1.2E-05 9.8E-07 4.1E-05 9.83-07 9.83-07 9.83-07 9.8E-07 2.1E-05
5.83-07 5.98-07 6.1E-07 6.7E-07 2.3E-05 1.3E-05 5.83-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 6.43-06 5.83-07 2.53-05 5.83-07 5.8E-07 5.83-07 5.83-07 1.3E-05
3.43-07 3.43-07 3.63-07 3.91-07 1.6E-05 8.4E-06 3.4E-07 3.41-07 3.41-07 3.4E-07 3.81-06 3.43-07 1.6E-05 3.43-07 3.43-07 3.43-07 3.43-07 8.23-06
2.83-07 2.83-07 2.93-07 3.21-07 1.3E-05 6.6E-06 2.8E-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 2.61-06 2.83-07 l.lE-05 2.8E-07 2.8E-07 2.83-07 2.83-07 6.63-06
4.43-06
2.61-06
1.6E-06
1.2E-06
Years
--~~__~_-____~~----_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__~~~~~~~~_______~______________ Effective Dose GI-Tract St SI ULI LLI
GastrointestinalTract Stomach Small Intestine Upper Large Intestine Lower Large Intestine
References Anthony,D. S.,Davis,R. K., Cowden, R. N. and Jolley, W. P. (1956) Experimental data useful in establishing maximum single and multiple exposure to polonium. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses ofAtomic Energy, Vol. 13, pp. 215-218. United Nations, New York. Chen, X. (1987) Body content of some naturally occurring radioisotopes in Chinese people. NRPB Bull. 84, 13-20.
Della Rosa, R. J., Thomas, R. G. and Stannard, J. N. (1955) University of Rochester, UR-392. Fellman, A., Ralston, L., Hickman, D., Ayres, L. and Cohen, N. (1989) The importance of acid digestion of urine prior to spontaneous deposition of *t”Po. Health Phys. 57,615-621. Fink, R. M. (1950) Biological Studies with Polonium, Radium and Plutonium. McGraw-Hill, London. Guskova, A. K., Drutman, R. D., Malysheva, M. S. and Soldatova, V. A. (1964) The assessment of doses and the possibility of clinical recognition of the disease associated with PO*to affection. Med. Radiol. 9(8), 5160.
Hill, C. R. (1965) *“‘Polonium in man. Nature 208,423-428.
84
REPORT
OF A TASK GROUP OF COMMITTEE
2
Hunt, G. J. and Allington, D. J. (1993) Absorption of environmental polonium-210 by the human gut. J. Radial. Prot. 13(2), 119-126. ICRP (1960) A Report by Committee 2 of ICRP. Health Phys. 3,217-220. ICRP (1968) Evaluation of Radiation Doses to Body Tissues from Internal Contamination due to Occupational Exposure. A Report by Committee 4 of ICRP. ICRP Publication 10. Pergamon Press, Oxford. ICRP (1979) Limits for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers: Part I, ICRP Publication 30. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Jackson, S. and Dolphin, G. W. (1966) The estimation of internal radiation dose from metabolic and urinary excretion data in a number of important radionuclides. Health Phys. 12,481-500. Kalmykov, L. Z., Krupchitskaya, K. T., Stratienko, U. V. and Rutkevitch, N. Y. (1969) Characteristics of “‘PO removal from the human body. Med. Radiol. 14(12), 26-30. Kauranen, P. and Miettinen, J. K. (1967) *‘OPo and 210Pb in environmental samples in Finland. In: Radiological Concentration Processes (B. Aberg and F. P. Hungate, Eds), pp. 275-280. Proc. Symp. Stockholm, April 25-29,1966. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Landinskaya, L. A., Parfenov, Y. D., Popov, D. K. and Federova, A. V. (1973) 210Pb and 210Pocontent of air, water, foodstuffs, and the human body. Arch. Environ. Health 27,254-258. McInroy, J. F., Watters, R. L. and Johnson, J. E. (1972) Polonium-210 absorption in rats: Effects of biological modification. Nature New Biof. 236,118-120. Naylor, G. P. L., Bonas, H. E., Haines, J. W., Ham, G. J., Harrison, J. D., Sundaram, S. and Dayan, A. D. (1991). The gastrointestinal absorption and tissue distribution of alpha-emitting actinide isotopes and polonium-210. The British Nuclear Energy Society Conference: Occupational Radiation Protection, Guernsey. Thomas Telford, London, pp. 291-296. NEA/OECD (1988) Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health. A Report of an Expert Group on Gut Transfer Factors. NEA/OECD Report, Paris, 47-49. Smith, F. A., Morrow, P. E. et al. (1961) Distribution and excretion studies in dogs exposed to an aerosol containing polonium-210. Am. Znd. Hyg. Ass. J. 22,201-208. Stannard, J. N. and Cassarett, G. W. (1964). Metabolism and biological effects of an alpha-emitter, polonium210. Academic Press, New York.