Variations in the concentration of plutonium, strontium-90 and total alpha-emitters in human teeth collected within the British Isles

Sci Total Environ. 1997 Aug 18;201(3):235-43. doi: 10.1016/s0048-9697(97)84060-0.

Abstract

Concentrations of plutonium-239, plutonium-240, strontium-90 and total alpha-emitters have been measured in children's teeth collected throughout Great Britain and Ireland. The concentrations of plutonium and strontium-90 were measured in batched samples, each containing approximately 50 teeth, using low-background radiochemical methods. The concentrations of total alpha-emitters were determined in single teeth using alpha-sensitive plastic track detectors. The results showed that the average concentrations of total alpha-emitters and strontium-90 were approximately one to three orders of magnitude greater than the equivalent concentrations of plutonium-239,240. Regression analyses indicated that the concentrations of plutonium, but not strontium-90 or total alpha-emitters, decreased with increasing distance from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant-suggesting that this plant is a source of plutonium contamination in the wider population of the British Isles. Nevertheless, the measured absolute concentrations of plutonium (mean = 5 +/- 4 mBq kg-1 ash wt.) were so low that they are considered to present an insignificant radiological hazard.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Air Pollution, Radioactive*
  • Alpha Particles*
  • Bone and Bones / chemistry
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Plutonium / analysis*
  • Strontium Radioisotopes / analysis*
  • Tooth / chemistry*
  • United Kingdom

Substances

  • Strontium Radioisotopes
  • Plutonium