[ RadSafe ] cesium

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

I don't think I agree with some of the statements on the ATSR page.  

For example: "High levels of radioactive cesium in or near your body can
cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding, coma, and even death. This
may occur after nuclear accidents or detonation of atomic bombs."

To take the second sentence first, I am hard pressed to think of a
situation "after nuclear accidents or detonation of atomic bombs" where
there is a chance of these kinds of symptoms in which Cs137 would be a
major player.  Unless there was something unusual about the situation, I
would expect that by the time the short half-life isotopes had decayed
to the point where Cs137 dominated activity, the Cs137 would have
dispersed to the point where acute symptoms wear not likely.  You
certainly can get acute symptoms from exposure to Cs137, but I would
expect exposure to a screaming hot source, rather than fallout.

As for the first sentence, I'd have included at least a mention of an
increased chance of cancer, and included some type of time factor.  



-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Jim Hardeman
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 1:16 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] cesium

Theo --
 
See http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=576&tid=107 
 
Jim Hardeman

>>> "Theo Richel" <theo at richel.org> 2/15/2012 14:56 >>>
Hello,

Could anyone please refer me to some literature on the toxicology of
ingested Cesium 137?

Many thanks

Theo Richel
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