[ RadSafe ] Concerning Rizzini's claim of one ug U-238

[Cowie, Michael I]

From the IAEA document Depleted uranium: sources, exposure and health effects, Executive Summary it states:

On average, approximately 90 μg (micrograms) of uranium exist in the human body from normal intakes of water, food and air; approximately 66% is found in the skeleton, 16% in the liver, 8% in the
kidneys and 10% in other tissues.

So with 99.27% of that being U-238................


Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Otto G. Raabe
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 10:14 AM
To: Mattias.Lantz at physics.uu.se; The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Concerning Rizzini's claim of one ug U-238

Rizzini has been quoted as saying that one microgram of U-238 can kill a person. An article from March 31, 2011, Rizzini once again claims that 1 microgram of uranium is enough to kill a person:

PLEASE CHECK MY MATH: According to ICRP-2 (page 81) a human can have a body burden of U-238 of 0.5 microcuries without lifetime risk.
That is 0.5 microcuries times 3.7 x 109 Bq/uCi = 1.9 x 109 Bq. One microgram of U-238 equals 0.012 Bq.

Hence, according to ICRP-2 a human could have an internal burden of about ten grams without significant radiation risk.

Am I missing something here? Please check my math.

Otto

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Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
Center for Health & the Environment
University of California
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E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
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