Re: plutonium -Reply

[Wes Van Pelt <VanPeltW@IDT.NET>]

Charles,

Thanks for all of your good Radsafe posts. I enjoy them.

We should always distinguish between toxicity (i.e. LD50) of a
substance, and hazard (risk of actually getting exposed and then hurt or
sick).

Cheers, 
Wes

Charles Willis wrote:
> 
> Wes,
> 
> Considering the number of plutonium workers we have had over the last hal
> century and the lack of any discernible adverse health effects leads me to suspect
> that plutonium is not in the front rank of the toxic materials.  Certainly on a mg/kg
> basis and looking at deterministic effects, a host of radionuclides are more toxic
> than plutonium.
> 
> Charlie Willis
> caw@nrc.gov

-- 
Wesley R. Van Pelt, Ph.D., CIH, CHP                KF2LG
President, Van Pelt Associates, Inc.     
Consulting in radiological health and safety.
mailto:VanPeltW@IDT.net        
http://shell.idt.net/~vanpeltw/index.html