Pu Toxicity

[HWADE@aol.com]

Here's the Cohen reference and the abstract:

Abstract-----By use of standard models and theories, the number of cancer
fatalities caused by dispersal of plutonium is estimated.
This process includes development of estimates of Pu toxicity for inhalation
and ingestion, calculation of meteorological dispersal using the Gaussian
plume model, estimates of resuspension effects from empirical models, and
estimation of very long term effects from a comparison with natural uranium
in soil.
The conclusions on Pu toxicity are that we may expect one cancer for each 200
ug of reactor-Pu (2.5 g/Ci) inhaled or for each 1.0 g ingested.  For
dispersal in a city, we may expect about one eventual fatality per 18 g of
reactor-Pu dispersed; this effect is dominated by inhalation from the initial
cloud, with early resuspension effects somewhat less important and long-term
effects essentially negligible.
Cohen, Bernard L. "Hazards of Plutonium Toxicity"  Health Physics 32 pp.
359-379 (1977)

H.Wade Patterson <hwade@aol.com>