Nonstochastic effects of different energy beta emitters on the mouse skin

The effect of irradiating varying areas of mouse skin from 860 down to 0.8 mm2 with different energy beta emitters was studied to clarify protection problems of localized doses to the skin. Both 90Sr and 170Tm sources show area effects for dose-response curves. The 90Sr doses that produced moist desquamation in 50% of irradiated fields (MD-50 doses) were 22, 42, 70, and 1000 Gy for 400-, 95-, 20-, and 0.8-mm2 sources. The MD-50 doses for 170Tm were 50, 54, 90, and 170 Gy for 860-, 64-, 20-, and 3.1-mm2 sources. Thus for the larger 170Tm sources there is much less area effect. There was no significant difference in effect between the different energy 90Sr and 170Tm sources for moist desquamation. A simple hypothesis based upon the repopulation of epithelial cells from the edges of the irradiated field and/or from surviving follicle basal cells can explain these area and energy effects in the mouse and in parallel pig skin experiments. The doses needed for 50% of the mice to show ulceration after 64-, 20-, and 3.1-mm2 170Tm sources were 260, 550, and 8300 Gy, respectively, while those for 90-, 20-, and 0.8-mm2 90Sr sources were 150, 210, and 3100 Gy. Thus there is a definite area and energy effect for these sources for this deep dermal damage. The steep rise in dose needed to produce given skin reactions for the smallest area (0.8 mm2) should reassure those faced with assessing the hazard of sub-millimeter-sized particles in/on human skin.