Metabolism of Uranium in the Rat after Inhalation of Two Industrial Forms of Ore Concentrate: The Implications for Occupational Exposure

Abstract

Aerosols produced from two commercially available ore concentrates in which the uranium was present essentially in the one as ammonium diuranate (ADU) and in the other as uranium octoxide (U₃O₈) were administered to rats. The results show that:

1 uranium in the ADU bearing material was cleared rapidly from the lungs, mainly to the blood, such that the retention kinetics were similar to those for a class D (highly transportable) compound as defined by ICRP;

2 uranium in the U ₃O₈ bearing material was removed from the lungs principally by mechanical processes, the retention kinetics in this case being similar to those defined for a class Y (poorly transportable) compound;

3 for both materials the distribution of uranium amongst body tissues and the fraction of the systemic content excreted in urine were similar to those obtained after the injection of soluble hexavalent compounds;

4 for workers potentially exposed to both these materials, urine monitoring and lung radioactivity counting measurements should be used in addition to air sampling procedures for assessing the intake of uranium.

5 intakes of the ADU bearing material should be restricted to those permitted for short-term exposures on the basis of chemical toxicity, whereas those for the U₃O ₈ bearing material should be governed by radiation dose.