The National Human Radiobiological Tissue Repository
Resources for Radiation Dosimetry and Biological Effects
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The National Human Radiobiological Tissue RepositoryThe NHRTR is one component of the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR). It contains frozen tissues, tissue solutions, microscope slides, and paraffin blocks that were collected by the USTUR at the autopsy of workers with documented intakes of plutonium, americium, uranium, and thorium. The NHRTR is a Great ResourceThe samples in the NHRTR are available to qualified scientists who are interested in conducting studies of localized tissue doses, studies of micro-distribution of the actinide elements, or studies of radiation induced molecular changes. |
The NHRTR Collection is Unique and Well Documented
Samples Containing Radium
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| Left: Cans containing radium dial painter bone ash. Right: Cross-section of a radium dial painter bone. | |
The NHRTR houses thousands of frozen, ashed, dried, and plastic embedded bone samples from the radium studies carried out by Argonne National Laboratory/Argonne Cancer Research Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the New Jersey Radium Research Project. Bone samples (and numerous soft tissue samples) are marked with a unique identifying number. These case numbers can be used to retrieve de-identified case data from publications such as Argonne National Laboratory-Argonne Cancer Research Hospital’s The Argonne Radium Studies: Summary of Fundamental Data ANL-7531 and ACRH-106. These data include the person’s source of exposure (dial painter, therapeutic injection, etc.), estimated body burden, radiochemical results, and medical history. (View excerpt from The Argonne Radium Studies: Summary of Fundamental Data.)
Learn more about historical radium studies »
Samples Containing Plutonium, Americium, and Uranium
The USTUR acquires post-mortem samples of body organs from volunteer donors who worked with actinide elements and who had a documented intake of one or more of these radionuclides. A portion of the tissues received by the USTUR is radiochemically analyzed to determine the concentrations of actinide elements in various organs. The remaining portion is 
retained in a frozen (-70°
C) state for future studies. Table 1 and Table 2 list the number of frozen tissue samples from partial body donations and whole body donations, respectively; Table 3 and Table 4 list the number of slides and paraffin blocks from partial body donations and whole body donations, respectively; and Table 5 and Table 6 list the number of dissolved tissue solutions from partial body donations and whole body donations, respectively.
Samples Containing Thorium
The USTUR has received and analyzed tissues from two whole-body donations that had been injected with Thorotrast during medical procedures. Approximately one half of each body was analyzed and the other half is preserved in a frozen state in the NHRTR.
Information About the NHRTR Samples
2005-10 USTUR director, Tony James, conducts a tour of the NHRTR facility for NCRP Scientific Committee 6-3: Shown at left – Dick Toohey (ORAU and president-elect Health Physics Society); Dunstana Melo (NCI/NIH guest observer); right – Tom Bell (NCRP Staff Consultant). |
The USTUR database contains an inventory of NHRTR samples containing plutonium, uranium, and americium. Information about thorotrast-injected donors includes amount injected, age at injection, autopsy reports, and radiochemical analytical results. The radiation doses to the radium dial painters before death and autopsy were determined by whole body counting and radon exhalation measurements. Detailed information about each measured dial painter is available through publications that contain tables with estimated skeletal radiation doses, exposure time periods, ages at exposure (and death), and much other pertinent information. This information can be supplied as well as frozen tissue samples.
Availability of NHRTR Samples
To qualify for receipt of NHRTR samples, researchers must:
- Provide a brief summary of the intended use of the samples
- Sign a confidentiality statement agreeing to protect the identities of subjects
- Provide a copy of IRB approvals, if appropriate
USTUR authorship on published reports is not a condition of collaboration; however, acknowledgement of the source of the materials would be appropriate.
Origins of NHRTR Samples - USTUR Operations
The NHRTR contains frozen tissues, tissue solutions, microscope slides, and paraffin blocks that were collected by the USTUR at autopsy. |
Workers with a documented history of intakes of radioactive materials are suitable candidates for participation in the USTUR program. Registrants are volunteers who authorize the Registries to collect tissue samples after death and to obtain their individual medical and radiation exposure records for research purposes. USTUR autopsies are performed by independent pathologists near the site of a Registrant death. Volunteer donors pre-plan the donation by granting the USTUR full consent to collect tissues after death. In some cases, the whole body may be donated to the USTUR. The consent can be withdrawn at any time by the donor and, after death, by the donor’s family. The donation program is similar to organ donations for medical purposes, designated on a drivers license. The research is federally funded through a grant from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to Washington State University (WSU). The Registries are administratively part of the WSU College of Pharmacy, with offices located on the Tri-Cities campus and labatories located in Richland and Pasco.
How to Contact the NHRTR
Dr. Sergei Y. Tolmachev
National Human Radiobiology Tissue Repository
United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries
Washington State University
1845 Terminal Dr. Suite 202
Richland, WA 99354-4959
Tel. 509-946-6870 x107
Tel. 800-375-9317 (Toll Free)
Fax. 509-946-7972
E-mail: stolmachev@tricity.wsu.edu
This page was last updated on October 20, 2010. usturwebmaster@tricity.wsu.edu