In vitro dissolution of uranium-contaminated soil in simulated lung fluid containing a pulmonary surfactant

During the latter part of the twentieth century, the United States developed a highly technical nuclear weapons complex that involved workers at many facilities performing complex missions at a number of different industrial sites across the country. Now, many of these sites are being remediated to remove legacy materials including chemical and radioactive wastes. Along with remediation comes the responsibility to adequately assess risk to cleanup workers who could be exposed to any hazardous materials, including resuspended uranium dust, encountered during environmental restoration. Inhalation of resuspended uranium represents one of the exposure hazards at an abandoned former metal rolling mill where approximately 11 thousand tons of uranium metal was rolled between 1947 and 1958. Residual uranium contamination in the dirt floor of this abandoned site has been exposed to rain, ice, snow, and other environmental factors for more than 50 y. This report describes the solubility of the uranium contamination in this dirt measured in vitro using a modified recipe for simulated lung fluid that contains a pulmonary surfactant. Small (0.1 g) aliquots of dirt collected at this site were sequentially dissolved in simulated lung fluid for increasing periods of time up to 30 d. Solubility was classified according to the ICRP categories as fast, medium, and slow. Results demonstrate that the solubility designation for the uranium contamination in the dirt is approximately 50% fast, 15% medium, and 35-40% slow. There was no observed difference in solubility when a pulmonary surfactant was added to the simulated lung fluid.