Plutonium – Health Implications for Man: A Review

Sponsored by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Plutonium – Health Implications for Man, edited by J. W Healy, addresses the concern over the health and environmental hazards of plutonium. It represents a set of articles that covers the influence of plutonium chemistry on its behavior, the exposure pathways, the distribution, metabolism, and transport in the environment. By reviewing the data available as of 1975, the authors attempt to summarize the impact of plutonium on human health, the environment, and evaluate the relevance of the maximum permissible limits. They express uncertainty over the oversimplified metabolic models and the appropriate uptake limits. Listing the numerous gaps in our knowledge of plutonium effects, every author stresses that further research is necessary. Since 1975, most of the assumptions were confirmed by further studies, and the processes described were quantified in various models. The most significant environmental pathway of Pu to man is inhalation followed by ingestion. Absorption through skin is possible only in case of wounds and cuts. Plutonium enters the environment within radioactive particles, migrating through soil and water by mechanical transport. Its transfer to plants and up the ecological chain to humans is insignificant.