Loading…

Energy metabolism used as a tool to model the transfer of 14C and 3H in animals

The transfer through the environment of 3 H and 14 C must be modelled differently than that of other radionuclides released from nuclear reactors because hydrogen and carbon enter straight into the life cycle. A solid understanding of the behaviour of 3 H and 14 C in the food chain is essential beca...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation and environmental biophysics 2010-11, Vol.49 (4), p.657-672
Main Authors: Melintescu, A., Galeriu, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The transfer through the environment of 3 H and 14 C must be modelled differently than that of other radionuclides released from nuclear reactors because hydrogen and carbon enter straight into the life cycle. A solid understanding of the behaviour of 3 H and 14 C in the food chain is essential because 3 H may be released in large quantities from future thermonuclear reactors, and 14 C accumulates in the environment because of its long half-life. For the present study, the hypothesis that both 3 H and 14 C metabolism in mammals can be modelled based on the understanding of energy metabolism has been tested. Recently published results demonstrate that the loss rate of organically bound tritium and 14 C from tissues of laboratory and farm animals can be assessed based upon their specific metabolic rates and enthalpy of combustion; the same is true for human beings. The improved model presented here relates the dynamics of organically bound tritium and 14 C within organs to the whole body and has been expanded to account for the growth of ruminants. The improved model has been expanded and applied for 14 C transfer in wild mammals and has been modified to apply to birds.
ISSN:0301-634X
1432-2099
DOI:10.1007/s00411-010-0302-4