| Pathology » |
USTUR 0055: Rocky Flats – 239Pu – Likely Inhalation (1969)
Intake
This Registrant worked at the Rocky Flats Plant for about 8 y. He had three documented incidents while working in buildings that were designated for plutonium work.
1967: The Registrant’s right thumb was contaminated to a magnitude of 1,000 c/m. This was decontaminated to background. No further information is available.
1968: The Registrant’s arms were contaminated to 10,000 cpm due to a glove failure. This was reduced to background. Two months after this incident a urine sample was analyzed for plutonium. The result was less than the minimum detectable activity (MDA).
1969: A positive urinalysis result prior to the 1969 wound incident indicates a likely inhalation. The precise nature of this intake is uncertain since no specific incidents are documented for more than a year prior the elevated urinalysis result.
1969: The Registrant lacerated his hand while repairing an electric motor on a contaminated pump. A wound count detected no activity above background. No urinalysis was performed immediately after the incident, but a urine sample collected 1.5 months later contained measurable plutonium activity, 0.66 dpm/24-h (11 mBq/24-h).
Health Physics
While employed at Rocky Flats, this worker provided 37 urine samples that were analyzed for 239Pu and/or 241Am. Four of the thirty-one plutonium measurements exceeded the contemporary MDA/2, 0.27 dpm/24-h (4.5 mBq/24-h). The highest measured plutonium activity, 1.25 dpm/24-h (21 mBq/24-h), was found in a sample collected several months before the documented 1969 wound incident.
Eight chest, two gut, and four liver in-vivo analyses were performed on this subject between 1968 and 1974. One wound count was conducted in 1969. None of the results exceeded background levels.
The Registrant’s total external (penetrating) radiation dose was 7.558 rem.
Autopsy and Pathology
The Registrant died at age 57 y from a malignant neoplasm of the esophagus.
Portions of the right and left lung, tracheo-bronchial and pulmonary lymph nodes, liver, spleen, kidneys, sternal muscle, heart, gonads, adrenal gland, rib cartilage, sternum, and vertebrae were taken at autopsy.
Contemporary Dose Estimates
The last plutonium body burden estimates made by SITE personnel are as follows:
| % of Maximum Permissible Burden |
Maximum Permissible Burden |
Calculated Estimate of Burden |
|
| Systemic Burden | 0.07% | 40 nCi | 0.028 nCi |
| Lung Burden | background | 16 nCi | - |
To use USTUR narrative data, please cite:
USTUR 0055: Rocky Flats – 239Pu – Likely Inhalation (1969): Narrative. United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries. 3 November 2009. Washington State University: College of Pharmacy. Accessed 23 November 2009. Available at: http://www.ustur.wsu.edu/Case_Studies/Narratives/0055_Narrative.php.
This page was last updated on November 3, 2009. usturwebmaster@tricity.wsu.edu