Plutonium and the risk of cancer. A comparative analysis of Pu-body burdens due to releases from nuclear plants (Chelyabinsk-65, Gomel area) and global fallout.

Results of the analysis of dynamic body burdens of Pu in adult inhabitants of Chelyabinsk-65 (not occupationally exposed) and different areas of the Gomel region are presented for 1990-1991. The data are based on radiochemical analyses of Pu in human organs and tissues. Comparison with the published data on global Pu and our data for human autopsies (Ufa, Russia) revealed that estimates of Pubody burdens in Chelyabinsk-65 residents were up to 30 times higher than global levels and depended on the period of residence in town. The Pu body contents of Gomel citizens 4-5 years after the Chernobyl accident are on average 3-4 times higher than the global levels. Activity of Pu-238 in various organs constitutes 4.7-26.0% (on the average 13.5 +/- 5.0%) of the total alpha-activity of Pu-238 and Pu-239, 240. The expected number of cancers induced by incorporated plutonium is approximately the same for the two population groups despite their different sizes and does not differ from the global level by more than one order of magnitude.