STUDIES ON THE PULMONARY CLEARANCE FRACTION FOR A GROUP OF WORKERS WITH CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO Y-CLASS URANIUM

The thorax burden and daily urinary excretion of uranium (Y class) were simultaneously estimated using the techniques of whole-body counting and neutron activation analysis respectively, for a group of 23 occupational workers in a uranium oxide plant. The results of the estimation showed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) linear correlation between the thorax burdens and the corresponding daily urinary excretions. The values of the mean thorax burden and the mean daily uranium excretion were employed to arrive at the pulmonary clearance fraction for the uranium deposited in the pulmonary region. The value of this fraction (which is the ratio of uranium excreted daily in urine to that present in the thorax) was found to be 1.1 x 10(-4) d-1.