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USTUR 0212: Hanford — 1967 Wound — 239/240Pu Nitrate — Chelated
Intake
This registrant worked at Hanford for 30 years. He had two acute plutonium intakes during that period.
1956: Skin contamination on the registrant’s wrist resulted in two positive urinalysis results. Based upon these results, about 0.8 Bq of 239/240Pu was deposited systemically.
1967: The donor was attempting to cut a pipe that was located at the back of a plutonium nitrate solvent extraction hood. The end of the cut pipe struck his hand injuring the back of his finger. The wound was contaminated to 10,000 dpm. This was decontaminated to 500 dpm before the employee was sent to the wound counter.
Health Physics
The 1967 wound was excised, reducing the activity at the wound site to an estimated 400 Bq 239/240Pu. The excised tissue contained 4.5 x 103 Bq 239+240Pu(1).
Evaluation of urinalysis data resulted in an estimated systemic deposition of 535 Bq 239Pu and 4.3 kBq 241Pu(2).
The Registrant's total non-penetrating external radiation dose was 10.7 rem (107 mSv) and his penetrating external dose was 7.8 rem (78 mSv).
Chelation
Forty-seven DTPA injections were administered in the six months following the wound injury. They totaled 26.5 g of DTPA.
Autopsy and Pathology
The Registrant died at age 56 y from emphysema. He had a 35-y history of smoking cigarettes.
References
1. Glover, S. E., Kathren, R. L., Filby, R. H. Distribution of Thorium and Other Trace Elements in Human Tissues, Chapter 5: Preparation of tissues for the determination of actinides from whole body donor case 0212 of the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries. Ph.D. dissertation. Washington State University: Department of Chemistry. May 1998.
2. McInroy, J. F.; Kathren, R. L., Swint, M. J. Distribution of Plutonium and Americium in Whole Bodies Donated to the United States Transuranium Registry. Radiat. Protect. Dosim. 26:151-158; 1989.
To use USTUR narrative data, please cite:
USTUR 0212: Hanford — 1967 Wound — 239/240Pu Nitrate — Chelated: Narrative. United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries. 5 August 2009. Washington State University: College of Pharmacy. Accessed 23 November 2009. Available at: http://www.ustur.wsu.edu/Case_Studies/Narratives/0212_Narrative.php.
This page was last updated on August 5, 2009. usturwebmaster@tricity.wsu.edu