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

[KARAM, PHILIP]

According to Table 3-2 of a National Academies of Science report on the risks of battlefield use of depleted uranium, there have been a number of cases of ingestion, inhalation, or absorption that have led to body burdens in the tens of mg and higher that caused no long-term health effects. 

Table 8-8 in this same document concludes that, based on the available scientific and medical literature, there is no adverse impact of acute intakes in the range of tens of mg, and even intakes of up to 1000 mg are "not likely" to cause someone to become ill.

It would seem that the good Dr. Rizzini failed to refer to the scientific literature when he made his comments.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of William Lipton
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 12:24 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Concerning Rizzini's claim of one ug U-238

Keep in mind that the critical toxicity for U-238 is to the kidneys, NOT
from radiation.  Being retired, I don't have access to ICRP30, or later
versions, but I know they list the mass limit for U-238.

Bill Lipton



On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 3:14 AM, Otto G. Raabe <ograabe at ucdavis.edu> wrote:

> 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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> Center for Health & the Environment
> University of California
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