Re: Limits of bioassay

[rkathren@tricity.wsu.edu (Ron L. Kathren)]

What you can detect depends on a number of factors, including the method
used (KPA and ICP mass spec are highly sensitive techniques), solubility of
the material, time after intake, and the individual biokinetics.  However,
there is a great deal of expertise in Canada with respect to uranium; three
names that come to mind are:  Michele Giddings and Maria Limson-Zamora, both
in Ottawa and both experts on uranium toxicity and quite familiar with
methods for analysis, and Emile Lamothe in Deep River.  Also, check the
paper by Medley et al. in Health Physics (August 1994) which gives a
detection limit of 7 pg/L for U in urine using KPA.

Ron Kathren, Director
US Transuranium and Uranium Registries

 10:39 PM 6/26/98 -0500, Clement, Christopher wrote:
>Radsafers:
>
>I'm not that familiar with the limits of bioassay methods.  Can someone
>point me in the direction of a reference for the minimum detectable
>activities for ingestion or inhalation of uranium or thorium series
>radionuclides?  In other words, for example, how many Bq of U238 with
>all its progeny do I have to inhale (say all at once) before it can be
>measured by standard bioassay techniques?
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Christopher H. Clement
>Scientific Specialist / Radiation Protection Program Manager
>Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office
>Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
>clementc@aecl.ca
>
>