Re: Skin dose from enriched uranium

[William Biggley <WHB1@jhu.edu>]

It was Radium and the burn was significant.

Reference:  Note de MM. Henri Becquerel et P. Curie (1901)
Action physiologique des rayons du radium.
Compt. Rend. Acad. Sciences. vol. 132, p.1289.


On Fri, 22 Aug 1997, Mike McNaughton wrote:

> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 11:57:45 -0500
> From: Mike McNaughton <mcnaught@lanl.gov>
> Reply-To: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
> Subject: Re: Skin dose from enriched uranium
> 
> The paragraph below discusses the effects of uranium on the skin, and
> concludes that even pure uranium would not cause erythema. However, I have
> read that Henri Bequerel received mild erythema as a result of keeping
> radioactive samples in his front pocket. I don't think Bequerel ever
> extracted radium, so his samples must have been uranium or thorium.
> Therefore, I wonder if this story about Bequerel is really accurate. Does
> anyone know the source of the story?
> 
> >The skin dose rate from unirradiated uranium, not uranium ore, of any
> >enrichment is about 200 mrem/hr.  The dose to cause skin "burns",
> >depending on the area irradiated, is greater than 1500 rem.  The mass of
> >uranium is not a factor unless it is very small.  If it is very small,
> >e.g. a gram or so, there is no effect even if the person were to hold it
> >for a very long time.  Therefore, a person would need to hold the
> >uranium in his hand for 1500000/200 = 7500 hours (a little less than a
> >year) to get a dose that might cause a burn, if the dose were given all
> >at once.  Because the dose is spread out over so long a time, it would
> >take longer (e.g. a higher dose) to produce an effect, because the skin
> >has a repair mechanism. I don't think the author will have a person
> >holding uranium continuously for such a long time.
> 
> "Shlala gashle" (Zulu greeting, meaning "Stay safe")
> mike (mcnaught@LANL.GOV)
> 
>