Aerosol Retention in the Respiratory Tract of Personnel in Bulgarian Radon Spas
and Ore Mines
Zlatko G. Ivanov
National Center of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria
Corresponding author: Zlatko G. Ivanov, M.D.
National Center of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection
132 St. Clement Ohridsky Blvd, BG-1756 Sofia, Bulgaria
CEJOEM 1999, Vol.5. No.3-4.:274-279
Key words:
Radon and its daughters, inhalation, occupational exposure, respiratory tract,
dose, limits, spas, underground mines
Abbreviations:
FPP = Filter Perchlorate-vinyl Petrianova
ICRP = International Commission on Radiological Protection
WL = Working level
WLM = Working Level Month
Abstract:
Obviously, the absence of dust and other detrimental compounds in the spa atmosphere
is an explanation of both their therapeutical quality and the absence of occupational
lung cancer among the personnel. Our own previous experiments proved through inhalation
by rats that the additional non-radioactive compounds in radon mine atmosphere increases
the retention of radon daughters in the respiratory system 2-3 times.
In order to find out the personal risk for the workers
in two very different types of occupational exposure, radon spas and ore mines,
measurements of radioactive aerosol retention in the lung have been performed, even
when the levels of radon daughters were approximately at the customary norms. A
difference has been found between the expected and observed dose to lung, the latter
being 2.44 and 2.88 times higher as compared to the expected one. It is probably due
to a higher retention of aerosolic carriers of radon daughters in the respiratory
tract than that estimated in the pertinent literature (25%). The conclusion is that
the real assessment of the risk requires establishing the dose to respiratory system,
instead of measuring only the level of radon progeny in the atmosphere.
Received: 26 August 1999
Accepted: 19 January 2000
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