Singh N P, Bennett D D, Wrenn M E, Saccomanno G
Health Phys. 1987 Sep;53(3):261-5. doi: 10.1097/00004032-198709000-00005.
The concentrations of alpha-emitting isotopes of U (234U, 235U, and 238U) and Th (228Th, 230Th, and 232Th) were determined in soft tissues and bones of three deceased U miners and two deceased U millers. The soft tissues generally included lung, liver, kidney, spleen, gonad and heart. The concentrations of U isotopes in the miners' lungs varied up to a factor of 18, suggesting that the accumulations of U in lungs at the time of death varied drastically. The concentrations of 230Th in the miners' lungs were similar to the concentrations of 234U and 238U. The concentrations of U isotopes and 230Th in millers' lungs also differed by a factor of almost 10. The most noticeable difference between the concentrations of U isotopes (238U and 234U) and 230Th was in the skeleton of U miners and millers. The 230Th/234U concentration ratios were as high as 94 in bones of miners and as high as 23 in millers. These results suggest that the fraction of Th transferred from blood to bones is much higher than the fraction of U transferred, and that the residence time of Th in skeleton is much higher than the residence time of U as suggested in ICRP Publication 30.
测定了三名已故铀矿工人和两名已故铀矿选冶工人的软组织和骨骼中发射α粒子的铀同位素（234U、235U和238U）以及钍同位素（228Th、230Th和232Th）的浓度。软组织通常包括肺、肝、肾、脾、性腺和心脏。铀矿工人肺部的铀同位素浓度变化高达18倍，这表明死亡时肺部铀的积累差异很大。铀矿工人肺部的230Th浓度与234U和238U的浓度相似。铀矿选冶工人肺部的铀同位素和230Th浓度差异也近10倍。铀矿工人和选冶工人骨骼中铀同位素（238U和234U）与230Th浓度最显著的差异在于此。在铀矿工人的骨骼中，230Th/234U浓度比高达94，在选冶工人中则高达23。这些结果表明，从血液转移到骨骼的钍的比例远高于铀转移的比例，并且如国际辐射防护委员会第30号出版物所述，钍在骨骼中的停留时间远高于铀的停留时间。
