United States Transuranium Registry. Annual report, October 1, 1982-September 30, 1983

The objectives of the USTR are: (1) to study the patterns of distribution, concentration, and retention of transuranics in exposed individuals by postmortem tissue analysis; (2) to correlate the estimated lung and body burdens made during life with the results of radiochemical analysis of selected postmortem tissues; and (3) to accumulate sufficient human data to permit a comparison with experimental results from animal studies; (4) to serve as a national and international data resource concerning the behavior of transuranic elements in man; and (5) to evaluate biokinetic mathematical models employed in actinide deposition determinations. A program for total body donation was instituted in 1976 to improve the data on the distribution of transuranics within the entire skeleton and those tissues not available at routine autopsy. Two whole bodies have been submitted for radiochemical analysis. Autoradiographs from both cases have been prepared and results are expected in the future. The collection and interpretation of supporting data as part of the routine radiation monitoring programs are in progress; however, at this time it is primarily a matter of data acquisition since there have been only two whole bodies submitted for analysis. Data being collected include contamination in nasal smears or nose blows;more » skin contamination; air sample results for work areas when associated with a known incident; wound contamination; etc. A personal computer is now available to store and mathematically analyze the data from autopsy cases. The possibility of establishing a direct telephone link with the radiochemical analytical laboratories so this data can be entered directly from a computer is being explored. A study to review the accuracy and comparability of systemic burden estimates based on urine excretion data was completed.« less