Validation of ICRP metabolic models for the transuranics in a Japanese population

Distributions of (239,240)Pu and 241Am in the tissues of Japanese were determined and then compared to those estimated using recent ICRP metabolic models. Intakes by inhalation and ingestion were calculated and used as input to the ICRP-30 model or a combination of the ICRP-66 lung model and the ICRP-67 metabolic model. The (239,240)Pu distribution in the lung, liver, skeleton, kidney, and muscle using the combination ICRP-66 and 67 models agreed well with the measured data. However, the measured plutonium concentration in the spleen was higher than predicted and than found in the kidney or muscle and indicates that the spleen should be treated as a separate organ in the ICRP model. The fractional uptake via ingestion of (239,240)Pu was estimated to be 11% with 5 x 10(-4) as the f1 value. The combination of ICRP-66 and 67 models were adequate descriptors of the organ burdens of 241Am measured in Akita and Niigata district populations. The 241Am ingrowth from 241Pu taken into in the human body contributes 90% of the measured burden.