Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Environmental plutonium in humans

D M Taylor1

  • 1University of Wales Cardiff, Department of Chemistry, Wales.

Applied Radiation and Isotopes : Including Data, Instrumentation and Methods for Use in Agriculture, Industry and Medicine
|November 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Pedicled chimeric superficial circumflex iliac artery perforator (SCIP) flap with external oblique fascia for vesicocutaneous bladder fistula repair: A case report and literature review on the utility of pedicled chimeric SCIP.

Microsurgery·2024
Same author

Evidence of Electron Heating by Alpha Particles in JET Deuterium-Tritium Plasmas.

Physical review letters·2023
Same author

Cryo scanning transmission x-ray microscope optimized for spectrotomography.

The Review of scientific instruments·2018
Same author

Treatment and functional outcomes of complex tibial fractures in children and adolescents using the Ilizarov method.

The bone & joint journal·2018
Same author

Effect of paliperidone palmitate on hospitalisation in a naturalistic cohort - a four-year mirror image study.

European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists·2016
Same author

The impact of command signal power distribution, processing delays, and speed scaling on neurally-controlled devices.

Journal of neural engineering·2015
Same journal

Effect of BaO-TiO<sub>2</sub> compositional variation on radiation shielding properties of borate-based glasses: A computational and simulation study.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
Same journal

Habitat heterogeneity analysis of planning CT improves the prediction of radiation proctitis in cervical cancer: A multimodal machine learning study.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
Same journal

Molecular plating for targetry: proof of concept using <sup>nat</sup>Gd(p,x)<sup>155</sup>Tb cross section measurements.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
Same journal

Investigation of proton spallation effect on Electron Emission Coefficient electrodes coated with metamaterial.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
Same journal

An algorithm to calculate physical density of biomedical objects having 3 ≤ Z<sub>eff</sub> ≤ 20: an application study using clinical photon-counting computed tomography equipment.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
Same journal

Comprehensive evaluation of Gd<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> reinforced polyhydroxybutyrate as a hybrid neutron-gamma shielding material: Spatial dose mapping, photon buildup factors and neutron capture performance under primary and secondary radiation.

Applied radiation and isotopes : including data, instrumentation and methods for use in agriculture, industry and medicine·2026
See all related articles

Natural and human-made plutonium exist in the body. Environmental plutonium from weapons testing is significantly higher but poses no recognizable health risks due to low radiation doses.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Nuclear Chemistry
  • Human Health Risk Assessment

Background:

  • Plutonium (Pu) exists naturally (e.g., 244Pu) and is continuously produced by uranium-238 (238U) spontaneous fission.
  • The human body naturally carries a small base load of plutonium atoms.
  • Atmospheric nuclear weapons testing since 1945 has significantly increased environmental plutonium levels.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the levels and health implications of natural and anthropogenic plutonium in the human body.
  • To quantify the contribution of nuclear weapons testing to environmental plutonium burden.

Main Methods:

  • Calculation of natural plutonium base load in the human body.
  • Estimation of plutonium levels from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of plutonium deposition in human liver and skeleton.
  • Calculation of radiation doses to bone and liver from environmental plutonium.

    • Main Results:

    • The human body contains a natural base load of plutonium atoms.
    • Environmental plutonium, primarily from nuclear weapons testing, is at least 5 orders of magnitude higher than the natural base load.
    • Plutonium is tenaciously retained in the human liver and skeleton with long half-times.
    • Estimated alpha-particle radiation doses to bone (3-7 microSv/a) and liver (10-20 microSv/a) are too low to cause recognizable health effects.

    Conclusions:

    • While environmental plutonium levels are high due to human activities, the associated radiation doses are negligible.
    • Current understanding of plutonium's radio- and chemical toxicity indicates no significant health risks at these exposure levels.