Comparison of 50-year and 70-year internal-dose-conversion factors

1981

Abstract

The 50-year inhalation and ingestion dose commitments associated with an acute intake (of a radionuclide) of 3.7 x 10/sup 4/ Bq (1 ..mu..Ci) in one day were compared with the corresponding dose commitments calculated for a 70-year integration period resulting from a chronic intake of the same amount at a rate of 101 Bq/d (0.00274 ..mu..Ci/d) for one year. These values, known as dose conversion factors, estimate the dose accumulated during a given period of time following a unit of intake of a radionuclide. It was demonstrated that the acute intake of 3.7 x 10/sup 4/ Bq in one day and the chronic intake of 101 Bq/d for one year (a total intake of 3.7 x 10/sup 4/ Bq) result in essentially the same dose commitment for a relatively long integration period. Therefore, the comparison of 50-year acute dose conversion factors and 70-year chronic dose conversion factors is essentially only a measure of the additional dose accumulated in the 50 to 70 year period. It was found that for radionuclides with atomic mass less than 200 the percent difference in the 70-year and 50-year dose conversion factors was essentially zero in most cases. Differences of approximately 5 to 50% were obtained for dose conversion factors for most alpha emitters with atomic masses of greater than 200. Comparisons were made on the basis of both organ dose equivalent and effective dose equivalent. The implications and significance of these results are discussed.

Abstract

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