A puzzling case of contamination with 241 Am

Two people were exposed to and contaminated with Am. In vivo determinations of the incorporated Am were performed using a whole-body counter and two partial-body counters for the skull and lung, respectively. Additionally, urine samples were analysed to estimate the systemic activity removed from th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radiological protection 2016-09, Vol.36 (3), p.391-404
Main Authors: Giussani, Augusto, Nogueira, Pedro, El Faramawy, Nabil, Buchholz, Werner, Gerstmann, Udo C, Hartmann, Martina, Meisenberg, Oliver, Noßke, Dietmar, Rühm, Werner
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Americium - analysis
Body Burden
Germany
Humans
Lung - radiation effects
Radiation Dosage
Radioactive Hazard Release
Skull - radiation effects
Tissue Distribution
Whole-Body Counting
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Summary:Two people were exposed to and contaminated with Am. In vivo determinations of the incorporated Am were performed using a whole-body counter and two partial-body counters for the skull and lung, respectively. Additionally, urine samples were analysed to estimate the systemic activity removed from the body. To improve the geometry of the skull measurements, an optimised detector configuration was used, a calibration with three physical phantoms of the human head was conducted, and the morphological variability between the individuals was also considered. The results of the measurements indicate that activity is not deposited in the deep tissues, rather in the skin tissues close to the body surface. Unfortunately, the many open questions relating to the actual circumstances during and after the incident make the interpretation of this case difficult if at all possible.
ISSN:0952-4746
1361-6498
DOI:10.1088/0952-4746/36/3/391