NCRP Report No.

77

Exposures From the

Uranium Series
With Emphasis on
Radon and I t s Daughters -

Recommendations of the
NATIONAL COUNCIL O N RADIA'TION
PROTECTION A N D MEASUREMENTS

Issued March 15,1984

First Reprinting January 15,1987
Second Reprinting April 30, 1991
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements
7910 WOODMONT AVENUE 1 BETHESDA, MD 20814
 LEGAL NOTICE
This report was prepared by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Mea-
surements (NCRP). The Council strives to provide accurate, complete and useful
information in its reports. However, neither the NCRP, the members of NCRP, other
persons contributing to or assisting in the preparation of this report, nor any person
acting on the behalf of rny of these parties (a) makes any warranty or representation,
express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of the
information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, method or
process disclosed in this report may not infringe on privately owned righta; or (b)
assumes any liability with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use
of, any information, method or process disclosed in this report.

L i b r a r y of Congress Cataloging i n Publication D a t a

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Exposures from the

uranium series with emphasis on radon and ita daughters.

(NCRP report, ISSN 0083-209X; no. 77)

"Issued March 15, 1984."
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. Radiation-Safety measures. 2. Uranium-Physiological effect. 3. Radon-Physi-
ological effect. 4. Radiation-Measurement. I. Title. 11. Series.
RA 569.N353 1984 363.1'79 84-3420
ISBN 0-913392-67-7.

Copyright 8 National Council on Radiation

Protection and Measurements 1984
All rights reserved. This publication is protected by copyright. No part of this publication
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including photocopying, or utilized by
any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the
copyright owner, except for brief quotation in critical articles or reviews.
Preface
In 1981, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Meas-
urements (NCRP) gave consideration to the potential exposure of the
U.S. population from elevated levels of natural background or from
the redistribution by man's activities of naturally occurring radionu-
clides. Brief examination led to the conolusion that the potential for
significant exposure justified an in-depth study and a scientific com-
mittee was established to evaluate the situation and, if necessary,
formulate recommendations. The effort was focused on exposures from
the principal sources of possible concern, the radionuclides of the
uranium series, particularly radon and its daughters. The work of the
committee culminated in this report.
The report surveys the sources of radon, assesses the levels of
exposure and their probable distribution, and estimates the risks
attributable to these exposures. This makes it evident that while
information on levels and number of individuals exposed in the U.S.
is incomplete and needs to be improved, radon daughter exposure
potentially constitutes the most significant exposure of the U.S. pop-
ulation. As a result, the report goes on to specify a level of exposure
at which remedial measures need to be considered and suggests pos-
sible remedial measures.
In this report levels for remedial action are specified to include
exposure from natural background (but not medical exposure). This
report constitutes an important adjunct to the Council's work on basic
radiation protection criteria, which has recently resulted in a draft
report which is before the Council members for review. The draft
report specifies permissible levels of exposure for workers and mem-
bers of the population in terms of risk. It too specifies remedial action
levels to include natural background (but not medical exposure), as
distinct from the specification of limits for exposure of the public from
sources other than background
The Council has noted the adoption by the 15th General Confer-
ence of Weights and Measures of special names for some units of the
Systkme International &Unites (SI) used in the field of ionizing
radiation. The gray (symbol Gy) has been adopted as the special name
for the SI unit of absorbed dose, absorbed dose index, kerma, and
specific energy imparted. The becquerel (symbol Bq) has been adopted
iii
iv / Preface

as the special name for the SI unit of activity (of a radionuclide). One
gray equals one joule per kilogram; and one becquerel is equal to one
second to the power of minus one. Since the transition from the special
units currently employed-rad and curie-to the new special names
is expected to take some time, the Council has determined to continue,
for the time being, the use of rad and curie. T o convert from one set
of units to the other, the following relationships pertain:
1 rad = 0.01 J kg-' = 0.01 Gy
1 curie = 3.7 X 10'O.s-l = 3.7 x 10" Bq (exactly).

Serving on Scientific Committee 73 on Exposures from The Ura-

nium Series with Emphasis on Radon and its Daughters were
John H. Harley, Chairman
P.O. Box M 268
Hoboken, NJ 07030

Members
Naomi H. Harley John W. Healy
Department of Environmental Medicine H-1, University of California
New York University Medical Center Los Alamos National Laboratory
550 First Avenue P.O. Box 1663
New York, NY 10016 Los Alamos, NM 87544

George V. LeRoy Ernest G. Letourneau

171 N. Rutledge Street Director
Pentwater. MI 49449 Radiation Protection Bureau
Department of National
Health and Welfare
Brookfield Road
Ottawa, Ontario, KIA 1C1
Canada

NCRP Secretariat, William M. Beckner

E. Ivan White

The Council wishes to express its gratitude to the members of the

Committee for the time and effort devoted to the preparation of this
report.

Bethesda, Maryland Warren K. Sinclair

November 7, 1983 President, NCRP
Contents

...
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
.
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Natural Background Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Elevated and Enhanced Natural Radioactivity . . . . . . 4
1.3 Exposure to Enhanced Natural Radiation . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Remedial Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Characteristics of the Uranium Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
.
3 Soil Content and Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1 General Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Normal Concentrations in the United States . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Examples of Enhanced Concentrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
.
4 External Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 Indoor Exposures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3 Elevated Natural Background Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4 Enhanced Natural Activity Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
.
5 Inhalation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.1 Outdoor Radon and Radon Daughters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.2 Indoor Radon and Radon Daughters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.3 Origins of Radon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4 Sources of Radon in Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.5 Variations of Radon Concentrations Within the
Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.6 Remedial Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.7 Measurement of Exposure and Estimation of Dose . . . 41
5.8 Inhalation of Other Series Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.9Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6. Drinking Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.1 Uranium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.2 Radium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.3 Radon in Drinking Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.4 Lead-210 and Polonium-210 in Drinking Water . . . . . 54
6.5 Remedial Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
vi / CONTENTS
.
7 Dietary Intake and Body Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.2 Natural Uranium (U.238. 234) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
7.3 Radium-226 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.4 Lead-210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.5 Uranium. Radium and Lead in Human Tissues . . . . . . 63
7.6 Skeletal Dose from Alpha Irradiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.7 Lung Dose Due to Inhaled Lead-210 and Polonium-
210 in Cigarette Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
.
8 Dose Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.1 Radon Daughters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.2 External Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.3 Ingested Radionuclides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
.
9 Basis for Recommendatione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
9.1 Risk Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
9.2 Dose Limitation Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
9.3 Exposure Distribution Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
9.4 Additivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.5 Existing Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
.
10 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
10.1 Inhalation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
10.2 External Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
10.3 Ingestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
10.4 Land Use for Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
10.5 Land to be Used for Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
10.6 Use of the Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
10.7 Need for Additional Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
10.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
APPENDIX A-Regulatory Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
APPENDIX B-Measurements for Assessing Exposures . 98
APPENDIX C-Derivation of Soil Guid-Uranium,
Radium and Lead-2 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The NCRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
NCRP Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
1. Introduction

This report is intended to present an evaluation of the exposures

and an estimation of the risks from enhanced natural or elevated
natural radioactivity of the uranium series. Recommendations are
made on remedial action levels for exposure of individuals in the
population to elevated and enhanced radioactivity.
Enhancement of natural radioactivity results, most notably, from
the mining of uranium ore and phosphate rock. These operations cause
material that is more radioactive than the average soil to reach the
accessible environment, exposing local populations to increased exter-
nal radiation and to possible increases in the amounts of radionuclides
inhaled and ingested. Elevated natural radioactivity, on the other
hand, refers in this report to levels which are well above the average,
but which do not result from human activities.
The principal decay chain for the uranium series is shown in Figure
1.1. The most striking feature of the chain is that 222Rnis a gas and
that a fraction of this gas can escape to the atmosphere after formation.
The resulting atmospheric transport and the inhalation of radon and
its short-lived daughter products give a very different exposure pattern
than that for radionuclides that are not airborne.
The solid members of the series, including isotopes of uranium,
thorium, radium, bismuth and lead are all heavy metals and tend to
accumulate in bone, while polonium is also distributed in soft tissues.
The polonium in bone is essentially all from decay of the lead parent
present in the skeleton. Externally, 214Biand 214Pb,which emit vir-
tually all the gamma rays from the series (Table 2.1),contribute about
one-quarter of all the natural terrestrial background gamma radiation.
Internally, the alpha emitters are most significant, both for inhaled
and for ingested materials.
The three potentially deleterious health effects considered in this
report are lung cancer from the short-lived daughters of radon, bone
cancer from the other members of the uranium series in the body and
total cancers from whole body exposure to external gamma radiation.
This report describes the various modes of exposure to members of
the uranium series and indicates the range of values for natural
background, elevated natural background and enhanced natural back-
2 / 1. INTRODUCTION

U-238 (UI)
2.51 1O'y
4.2 MeV 47-4.8 MeV

Princ~pal Decay Scheme

Th-234 (UXJ of the Uranium Series
8.0 r 10' y
0.2,O.l MeV 4.6-47 MeV

Rn-222
5.5 MeV

Po-218 (RoA) Po-214 (Roc? Po-2IO(RaF)

3.05m 1.6xIO-*s 138 d
6.0 MeV 2 7.7 MeV 7 5.3 MeV
01-214 I R~c~
1
01-210(RaEI
Beta Decay
Pb-210 (ROD)'
5.0 d
7 1.2 MeV
'
1
Pb-206 (RoG)
2 2 ~ STABLE
07.10 MeV < 0.1 MeV

Fig. 1.1. Principal decay scheme of the uranium series.

ground levels. As a final step, recommendations are made for remedial

action levels for exposure to radiation from the uranium series.
In preparing this report, it became apparent that the present data
are not adequate for describing the mean and distribution of radiation
exposures for the population of the United States. Since natural
sources give rise to the largest human exposures under most condi-
tions, an additional recommendation is made that the necessary radia-
tion surveys be carried out.

1.1 Natural Background Radiation

The NCRP published a review in 1975, Report NO. 45, Natural

Background Radiation in the United States (NCRP, 1975). which
described the sources of natural radiation exposure and their variabil-
ity. Since that report was issued, some additional data on average
indoor radon exposures have become available. This results in a large
increase in the estimated dose equivalent to lung from radon daughters
because the original report considered only the lower average outdoor
values. Table 1.1 compares the two sets of figures and includes gonad
and bone doses as well. It should also be noted that the International
 1.1 NATURAL BACKGROUND RADIATION / 3
TABLE1.1-Summary of average dose equwalent rates in mremly from uarious sources
of natural background radiation in the United States. (Values are from NCRP Report
No. 45. Present best estimates are given inparentheses.)
Gonads Bone surfaces Bronchial epithelium
Cosmic radiation" 28 28 28
Cosmogenic radionuclides 1 1 1
External terrestrialb 26 26 26
Inhaled radionuclides 450 (3000)'
Radionuclides in the body 27 (35)d 60 (105)~ 24 ( 4 0 ) ~
Rounded totals 80 (90) 120 (160) 500 (3000) -

'Allowing for 10% shielding by buildings.

Allowing for 20% shielding by buildings and 20% by the body.
' Does not include thoron and its daughters. The modified value allows for indoor
exposure to radon daughter inhalation and a change in quality factor from 10 to 20 for
alpha radiation.
Allows for a change in quality factor from 10 to 20 for alpha radiation.
Note: These values are the same as the values in NCRP Report No. 45 and have not
been reassessed except as noted above and except in the case of inhaled radionuclides.
The average value 3000 mremly, to bronchial epithelium is discussed and derived in
Chapter 5 of this report.

Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended, as an

approximation, a quality factor for alpha radiation of 20 (ICRP,
1977a). The NCRP is involved in an extended study of this question
and the present report uses the value of 20 as an interim measure. A
quality factor of 10 was used in NCRP Report No. 45.
Geographical differences in natural background were also estimated
in NCRP Report No. 45 for external gamma radiation, cosmic radia-
tion and radiation from radionuclides in the body. Three levels of
external gamma dose equivalent rate were noted-15 mrem/y for the
Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains, 30 mrem/y for most of the United
States, and 55 mrem/y for a rather undefined area along the Eastern
slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Cosmic-ray variation is primarily a function of altitude, other factors
such as latitude and the solar cycle causing a variation in dose
equivalent rate of only about 10%. The sea-level dose equivalent rate
of 26 mrem/y is doubled at about 2000 meters; only a small fraction
of the population would have this higher exposure.
The whole-body dose equivalent rate from radionuclides in the body
is dominated by the 20 mrem/y from the body potassium, which is
under homeostatic control and does not vary strongly with diet. There
is some variation with age and sex, but this does not affect the
considerations in this report. The dose equivalent rate to bone surfaces
is controlled by the internal alpha emitters. This quantity is subject
to some variability but present data, except for '"jRa, are not adequate
4 / 1. INTRODUCTION

to give an estimate of the range. Similar deficiencies exist in the data

for the dose equivalent rate to the lung from inhaled radon daughters,
although the limited data available indicate that the range is large.
In most cases, the geographic differences in total dose equivalent
rate from natural background are limited to a factor of less than two
from the average. This is because the three sources-external terres-
trial radiation, cosmic radiation and radiation from internal emitters-
do not all change in the same direction at the same place. If the
detailed data were available, however, it is probable that small areas,
small groups, and individuals in particular would show a much greater
range.
For the present purpose, the evaluation of exposures from elevated
and enhanced sources, the average dose equivalent rates shown in
Table 1.1 are an adequate basis for comparison. It is these values that
are meant when "average naturaln or "normaln levels are referred to
in this report.

1.2 Elevated and Enhanced Natural Radioactivity

The term elevated natural radioactivity is used in this report to

describe radioactivity that results in exposures which are several times
the average values shown in Table 1.1, but which are natural in origin.
At present, these are not subject to regulation but the recommenda-
tions of this report should apply to such exposures.
It is to be expected that more widespread measurements of the
terrestrial component of natural background in the United States will
bring to light areas of elevated natural exposure. Such areas have
already been described for Brazil (Penna-Franca et al., 1972)and India
(Gopal-Ayengar et al., 1975) where the thorium mineral monazite
occurs and for the uraniferous areas of Canada (Richardson et al.,
1972).
The data on levels of radon and its daughters are also limited. Some
measurements of elevated natural levels indoors and outdoors have
been reported for the United States but much of the effort has been
spent on enhanced levels. Surveys of thousands of houses are available
for Canada (Letourneau et al., 1979; McGregor et al., 1980)and surveys
are in progress in some European countries. Elevated natural levels
will undoubtedly be found and these will have to be dealt with along
with enhanced levels.
The term enhanced natural radioactivity has come to mean the
increase over natural background that occurs when an area is disturbed
 1.3 EXPOSURE TO ENHANCED NATURAL RADIATION / 5
by human activities. No new radioactivity is produced, but the radio-
nuclides are redistributed in a way that increases the real or potential
human exposure. Typical examples appear when uranium ore, thorium
ore and phosphate rock are mined or extracted. Residues from the
mining or the ore treatment are left on the surface and their radioac-
tivity is the source of the exposure.
In addition to bringing the radioactive material physically closer, it
is likely that the ore processing may change the chemical availability
of the radionuclides with respect to water solubility, plant uptake and
metabolic behavior. While it is possible that the availability might be
decreased, the nature of most chemical processes is such that solubility
and similar factors are generally increased.
The increased exposures from mining and processing appear to be
local rather than global. For example, mining of the world's known
and probable reserves of uranium ore would allow the added release of
about lo7 Ci of mRn per year. Present global releases from radium
present in surfgce soil are more than 100 times as great. Exposures
resulting from ingestion of enhanced radium in soil are also confined
to local areas because the transport mechanisms are limited. Radium
and other radionuclides released to water could be ingested down-
stream. Radon, of course, travels farther in air but measurable in-
creases above background levels seem to be confined to a kilometer or
so from the source (Shearer and Sill, 1969).

1.3 Exposure to Enhanced Natural Radiation

As with average natural background radiation, the modes of expo-

sure are external irradiation from gamma rays and internal irradiation
from ingestion and inhalation of radionuclides. In most cases, we can
make direct comparisons with the natural levels in the environment
as a basis for predicting the doses from enhanced radiation. In a few
cases, it is necessary to use transport or metabolic models and, of
course, dose models are required for internal emitters.

1.3.1 External Radiation.

Enhanced external radiation comes largely from the soil. Buildings
provide shielding to some extent from the terrestrial component; in
NCRP Report No. 45 an overall reduction of 20% from the outdoor
dose rate was assumed. Building materials contain some radionuclides
that may influence the indoor dose rate, with frame houses being lower
6 / 1. INTRODUCTION

than masonry structures. These latter usually exhibit radium concen-

trations quite comparable with those-of the average soil (1 pCi/g), so
any shielding is offset by the intrinsic radioactivity. Building materials
with enhanced radioactivity can contribute to exposure in some areas,
both when used as structural blocks or bricks and when sand with
higher than average radionuclide content is used in mixing concrete
or for fill.
An additional factor to consider for external radiation is the shield-
ing of various organs by the body itself. This produces an additional
reduction in dose to the gonads of about 20% and is included in the
dose equivalent rates given in this report.

1.3.2 Ingestion.
Ingestion of food and water containing 226Raand it, long-lived
daughters, 'lOPb and "OPo, results in a significant dose equivalent to
bone surfaces. These sources were estimated in NCRP Report No. 45
to contribute an average of about 30 mrem/y. This is about half the
total dose equivalent to bone surfaces, the other half being split
between 'OK and the thorium series. Some of the radon daughters
come from inhalation but the two intakes cannot be readily separated.
In areas of elevated or enhanced radioactivity, the intake could be
increased above average natural levels by the consumption of locally-
grown foods and by contamination of the water supply. Because the
known areas of high radium content do not appear to have large
numbers of people engaged in subsistence farming, the radionuclide
content of the local food supply is diluted considerably by foods from
other areas. Such dilution would not occur in the case of the water
supply and this source is more likely to produce local variability in
dietary intake.

1.3.3 Inhalation.
Inhalation of the short-lived radon daughters produces a dose equiv-
alent rate to the lungs larger than that to any other human organ
from natural background. As will be discussed later in detail, the
average indoor radon concentrations lead to exposures to members of
the public that are about 5% of the presently allowed occupational
level for miners. By contrast, the average body radium content of
about 30 pCi is a very small fraction of the allowed occupational level
of 100,000 pCi. It is obvious that a relatively small enhancement for
radon daughters can lead to exposures that are a significant fraction
of recommended levels.
 1.5 UNITS / 7
Indoor radon concentrations are ordinarily several times those ob-
served outdoors. A major source in houses is emanation of radon from
the ground under and around the house, so that basements tend to be
highest and upper floors the lowest in a particular house. The level
can be reduced markedly by ventilation-essentially dilution by out-
side air-so that it is likely to vary both diurnally and seasonally. The
outdoor radon concentration also shows diurnal and seasonal patterns,
some of which are due to atmospheric ventilation and some to changes
in the rate of radon emanation from the ground. These latter factors,
in turn, can affect indoor concentrations.
Indoor radon levels can also be increased by the release of dissolved
radon during household water usage, burning of natural gas and by
radon emanation from materials of construction. The relative impor-
tance of these and the ground source vary from place to place and are
considered further in Section 5.

1.3.4 Summary of Exposures.

In summary, it is necessary to consider all of the sources of exposure
in each area of elevated or enhanced natural radiation to evaluate
possible risk to the population. It is likely that inhalation is the most
significant factor and ingestion the least, but the relative importance
can conceivably be altered a t specific sites.

1.4 Remedial Actions

When the levels of exposure are found to exceed recommended
values, it is generally possible to reduce them by various techniques.
These are addressed in more detail in the chapters on the various
modes of exposure. All remedies have some cost, for example not using
contaminated foods, increasing home ventilation or removing contam-
inated material from or around houses require the expenditure of
money or effort. Research is being conducted on new remedial tech-
niques and on increasing their efficiency, so the actual remedies used
will change with time and circumstances.
The primary requirements before remedial action can be effective
are that the source be definitely identified and then either removed or
mitigated. General efforts to reduce exposure without locating the
source are likely to be inefficient.

1.5 Units
Since the exposures to radiation from the uranium series have a
long history and an extensive literature, the traditional units for
activity, absorbed dose and dose equivalent will be used in this report.
8 / 1. INTRODUCTION

In the case of radon daughter inhalation, all of the air concentrations

to which uranium miners were exposed are given in terms of the
Working Level (WL). It is thus necessary to continue its use in this
report, although it is not truly descriptive of any radiation dose. The
WL is defined as that concentration of radon daughters which has a
potential alpha energy release of 1.3 x lo5 MeV per liter of air. The
unit of exposure is the Working Level Month (WLM) which is defined
as exposure to an average of one WL for a working month of 170
hours.
For annual exposures, a miner exposed a t an average concentration
of 1 WL during his working hours (170 hlmonth) would accumulate
12 WLM/y. In the case of members of the population exposed contin-
uously (730 hlmonth) to 1 WL, they would accumulate a rounded
value of 50 WLM in a year.
2. Characteristics of the
Uranium Series

Uranium-238 is the first member of one of the three primordial

radioactive series that occur in nature. The principal decay scheme of
the series is shown in Figure 1.1 and the energies released in decay of
the various members are listed in Table 2.1.
If the series has been undisturbed by chemical or physical changes,
there will be radioactive equilibrium, where each member of the series
has a decay rate essentially equal to that of the parent 238U.Actually,
in the environment, a number of processes take place which tend to
separate the series into groups. Thus a given environmental sample
may not be in radioactive equilibrium, although the global radioactivity
of each series member must be equal.
The degree of separation depends not only on the process efficiency
but also on the relative time scales of the radioactive half-lives and
the particular geological, meteorological or biological process. For
example, slow processes cannot separate the parent nuclide from
daughter products that have short half-lives, since the daughters will
grow back into equilibrium very rapidly.
The uranium series may be divided into four major groups:
1. 238U,234Th,234mPa,n4U and 230Th generally behave as a group,
with two exceptions. An atom of which is formed by the
decay of mmPa may recoil sufficiently to displace it from the
original crystal lattice. The free atom may then be oxidized to a
more soluble form. Thus, water samples have been found with a
238Uf34Uratio as low as 0.1 (UNSCEAR, 1977). Thorium-230
follows the group in terrestrial and fresh water environments but
in the oceans it tends to precipitate preferentially and is enriched
in the sediments.
In the body, uranium accumulates in bone, although inhaled
material is only translocated from the lung very slowly, since the
naturally-occurring element is usually in an insoluble form. Sol-
uble uranium that is ingested is regarded as a chemical toxin
affecting the kidney. The n4Th and 234mPaare short-lived and
decay in place, while the long-lived 230Th also tends to be taken
up by bone.
9
10 / 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE URANIUM SERIES
TABLE2.1-Energies of the principal emissions in the natural umnium series. (Only
emissions appearing in at least 5% of the decays aregioen.)
Radionuclide Alphe energy Maximum beta energy Gamma energy
(MeV) (MeV) (MeV)

2. Radium-226 is readily separated from earlier members of the

series and is distributed differently in nature. It is an alkaline
earth and follows calcium and barium in its chemical reactions
and metabolism.
Radium also accumulates in bone, with more than 90% of the
body content being found in the skeleton. Some of the resultant
bone dose comes from decay of 222Rnand its short-lived daugh-
ters, since about one-third of the gaseous radon formed in the
body is not exhaled (UNSCEAR, 1977).
3. Radon-222 is an inert or noble gas, having no natural chemical
compounds. As a gas, it may separate from its parent radium and
enter the atmosphere. In an unventilated, enclosed space, it will
be close to equilibrium with its solid, short-lived daughters
218P~, 2'4Pb, 21'Bi and 2 1 4 P ~but
, some separation of the solid
products from the parent is common in nature.
The alpha radiation from the short-lived radon daughters gives
the significant dose to the lung, while the gamma rays from the
'14Pb and '14Bi in soil give essentially all of the external terrestrial
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE URANIUM SERIES / 11
gamma radiation dose from the uranium series. Radon is soluble
in body fluids and in fats but the resulting doses are negligible
compared with those to the respiratory system from the inhaled
daughter products.
4. The longer-lived decay products of radon, 210Pb,'lOBi and 210Po,
are also subject to physical and chemical processes in the envi-
ronment that can cause disequilibrium, although it is still con-
venient to consider them as a group.
In the body, lead accumulates in bone, and its short-lived
bismuth daughter decays in place. Polonium is distributed in soft
tissues as well as bone. Inhalation and ingestion contribute some
210Poto the body content but the primary source of 210Pois the
decay of 210Pbin the body. This is because the 22-year half-life
210Pbcan build up a much larger body content than the 138-day
half-life 'loPo. The significant bone dose equivalent comes from
the alpha emission of 210Po,this being almost ten times the beta
dose equivalent from the 'I0Bi.
It should be noted that natural uranium contains 235U to the extent
of 0.7%. This isotope is the parent of another primordial series with a
decay chain very similar to that of 238U. This similarity and the low
concentration of 235U allows US to avoid considering possible contri-
butions separately.
In summary, the uranium series contains seven chemical elements
that are important. The metabolic behavior of each of these follows
its own chemistry although the similarity of the group, as heavy metals,
means that some generalizations are possible. The dose contributions
of emission, half-life and energy. These properties are included in the
dose factors used in this report which have been adopted from other
sources.
3. Soil Content and Transport

The rocks, and the soils derived from them, are the repositories of
the primordial radionuclides. Immediately ~€ter formation, a large
number of radionuclides was present. However, all except those with
very long half-lives or those that are daughters of long-lived parents
have disappeared.
In this report, the primary interest is in the series headed by 238U,
the uranium series.

3.1.1 Environmental Behavior.

For purposes of analyzing environmental behavior, the series may
be divided into four parts a little different from those given in Section
2; the group from ='U to ='Us 230Th,226Raand its short-lived daughters
to '14Po, and 210Pbthrough 210P~. Each of these groups is headed by a
relatively long-lived radionuclide that controls the quantity and the
behavior of its immediate daughters.
In the fvst grouping, the important radiological constituents are the
238Uparent and the 234Udaughter, because both are long-lived alpha
emitters. The two intermediate products (234Thand 234mPa)are rela-
tively short-lived (24.1 days and 1.17 minutes) beta emitters. In the
environment, the can be separated from the 238Uby chemical
processes involving the intermediate members or by a change in water
solubility of the daughter radionuclide following decay of the parent
(NCRP, 1975). Thus, the 234U f "U ratios in natural uranium from 16
sources are reported as 0.914 to 0.985, while in ocean water the ratio
is 1.14 -1 0.01. This shows a preferential solubility of 234Uand move-
ment from the land to the oceans over a long period of time. This has
little significance in estimating human radiation dose because of the
wide variations in the quantities of uranium from place to place on
the earth and the uncertainties inherent in calculating such doses.
Thorium-230 has a half-life of about 80,000 years. The NCRP (1975)
reports that *?h can be enriched or depleted in natural situations by
about a factor of two compared to or 234U.Thorium is, in general,
less soluble under environmental conditions than uranium so that its
movement in water is of lesser importance.
Radium-226 and its.short-lived daughters are of the greatest interest
 3.1 GENERALBEHAVIOR / 13
in assessing hazards, primarily because of the mobility of 222Rn,the
immediate daughter of 226Ra.Radium-226 is soluble in water, however,
and can be a source of internal exposure from drinking water, partic-
ularly if the water is from deep formations that contain higher than
average concentrations of uranium and radium. Radium can also be
taken up from the soil by plants to produce internal exposure when
the plants are eaten. Radium is chemically similar to calcium and will
tend to follow calcium in the environment.
Radon-222 is the direct daughter of nsRa and each disintegration of
='Ra produces one atom of radon. Because radon is a noble gas (in
the same chemical family as helium and argon) it does not undergo
chemical reaction in the environment. Thus, each atom of radon as it
is formed is released from any chemical combination of the 226Raand
can diffuse through materials to the extent allowed by its 3.82-day
half-life and the porosity of the medium. When the radon atom
disintegrates, it forms an atom of polonium which is a solid and can
be trapped in the diffusing medium.
Because a gas diffuses slowly through solid materials, only that
radon produced near enough to the surface of a solid to diffuse to the
surface before the atom decays will escape. (An alternative method of
escape from the near surface of a solid is by the recoil energy obtained
by the nucleus from the decay of 226Ra.)Thus the fraction escaping
will depend upon the size of the object in which it is formed. For
massive rocks, only a small fraction of the radon formed will escape.
For soils, the fraction escaping to the air through the pore spaces
between the particles is higher, and can reach 0.6. This high emanating
fraction occurs in clays which have small particle sizes.
In soils, which are the main source of radon moving to the atmos-
phere, the radon escapes from the soil grains into the air contained in
the pore spaces of the soil. From this position it can move to the
surface of the ground by diffusion or by movement of air in the pore
spaces caused by changes in barometric pressure. Once again, the
movement to the surface must be complete before the radon atom
decays if it is to enter the atmosphere. This limits the depth of the
soil layer that contributes to the radon leaving the surface to a few
meters, depending on the type of soil and its moisture content.
Once the radon leaves the surface of the ground, it is transported
downwind and decays to produce the short-lived daughters that are
the source of the radiation exposure from radon.
Radon may also be dissolved in ground water as a result of release
from rock or soil containing the aquifer. The quantity of radon released
is dependent upon the radium content of the formation while the
quantity remaining in the water is a function of the time required for
the ground water to reach the surface.
14 / 3. SOIL CONTENT AND TRANSPORT

The gamma radiation from the 226Ragroup is emitted by the short-

lived daughters of *"Rn. This is mostly from the '14Bi (19.7 minutes)
with some contribution from 214Pb(26.8 minutes) (Table 2.1). Thus,
in areas where the radon daughters have been depleted by movement
of radon away from the site, the gamma radiation is reduced from the
equilibrium level accordingly.
The last segment of the uranium series starts with 'lOPb and ends
with stable '"'jPb. Lead-210 is a low-energy beta emitter with a half-
life of 22 years, and it can accumulate in the environment as a separate
source if separated from its radium predecessor by diffusion and
transport of radon gas. Lead-210 decays through "OBi, another beta
emitter, to 2'0Powhich is an alpha emitter with a half-life of 138 days.
This section of the series may be subjected to separation processes
throughout all the preceding steps in the series decay, in particular
the release of radon to air or water. As a result, "Opb may often occur
in situations where the parents, uranium or radium, are not present.
This is particularly true in air, as demonstrated by Hill (1965)who
showed a direct correlation between alpha activity in grass and in
rainfall because of the washout of radon daughters from the atmos-
phere. Francis et al., (1968) have also indicated that the fallout of
21"Pbis a mechanism for the entry of 210Pointo plants.

3.1.2 Routes of Exposure.

There are five routes of human exposure to members of the uranium
series. These are:
(1) gamma radiation from the radon daughters in soil, rocks and
air resulting in external exposure to penetrating radiation;
(2) uptake of radionuclides by plants which are eaten by humans
or by animals used subsequently for meat or to provide dairy
products;
(3) dissolution of radionuclides in water that is used for drinking,
cooking or irrigation;
(4) emanation of radon into the atmosphere with inhalation of the
daughters;
(5) resuspension of dust containing the solid radionuclides with
inhalation of the dust.
The first four routes of exposure will be considered in detail in the
next sections.
Resuspension of dust containing any of the nuclides can occur under
the influence of winds or mechanical disturbance. Unfortunately, the
estimation of air concentrations resulting from resuspension is an
empirical process with inadequate information to allow any detailed
 3.2 NORMAL CONCENTRATIONS IN T H E UNITED STATES / 15

estimate of air concentrations. In a review of present resuspension

concepts and models, Healy (1980) recommends the use of a dust
loading model that combines the dust content in the air with the
findings of Anspaugh et al., (1975) that the concentration in soils
could be related to the concentration in air by assuming that the dust
loading is 100 micrograms of the soil per cubic meter. Healy (1980)
recommended an increase to 200 micrograms/m3 to allow for increased
inhalation by those people working outdoors in dusty occupations.
Radon daughter products provide the highest radiation exposure to
man from the uranium series. This exposure can arise from a number
of sources:
(1) Soils are a continuing source of radon emanation depending on
their radium content. The NCRP (1975) estimated an average
emanation rate of 0.42 pCi/m2 per second from the soils in the
United States. This emanation rate is variable, even a t any one
place, depending upon changes in barometric pressure, and
conditions such as soil moisture, freezing of the soil and snow
cover. In the atmosphere, diurnal changes in radon concentra-
tion occur at many places because of the formation of a capping
inversion that keeps the radon emanating from the surface of
the ground from mixing into the upper layers of the atmosphere.
The most important indoor source of radon is radium in soil
under buildings or in the materials used in building construction.
Here, the radon may be released directly into the building where
it remains for a time that varies with the ventilation rate of the
building.
The concentrations of radon and radon daughters in the home
are not constant but will change with time, particularly with
the season of the year and the accompanying change in the
ventilation rate. The number and type of surfaces available for
plating out of the radon daughters is also important.
(2) Another source for entry of radon into the home is its release
during domestic use of water. If the water contains radon, it can
be released, totally or partially, during such activities as taking
a shower or washing dishes.
(3) A third source of radon in houses is the burning of natural gas.
This fuel contains varying amounts of radon, depending on the
source and the time that the gas spends in transit and storage.

3.2 Normal Concentrations in the United States

The NCRP (1975) presented a table showing the average concentra-
tions of uranium in various types of rocks and soils. The data are
16 / 3. SOIL CONTENT AND TRANSPORT

TABLE3.1-Uranium in mks and soih (NCRP, 1975).

Material Minograms per Pieocurie8 per
mam mad
Igneous rocks
Basalt (crustal average) 0.5-1 0.2-0.3
Mafic' 0.5.0.9 0.2,0.3
Salic" 3.9,4.7 1.3. 1.6
Granite (cnletal average) 3.0 1.0
Sedimentary rocks
Shale 3.7 1.0
Sandatones
Clean quartz 4.0 <0.3
Dirty quartz 2-3 l.Ob
Arkose 1-zb 0.3-0.7~
Beach eands (unconsolidated) 3.0 1.0
Carbonate rocks 2.0 0.7
Soils 1.8 0.6
"To obtain the series equilibrium radioactivity for total alpha, beta or
approximate gamma emissions (excluding bremestrahlung and x rays).
multiply by 8.6 or 3, reepectively.
Indicatee that the values are not well defined.
"Themedian and mean value are given.

reproduced in Table 3.1. There can be wide variations from the values
shown, particularly in regions where uranium minerals are present.
The radioactivity in soils is related to the activity in the rocks from
which the soil was formed. While this is frequently the bedrock in a
particular area, there are cases where the soils have migrated from
mountains having relatively high concentrations of radionuclides to
cover bedrock that contains low concentrations.

3.3 Examples of Enhanced Concentrations

A large number of situations occur where the natural radioactivity
in soils or rocks is altered in position, chemical form or availability so
that radiation exposures to people can be increased over those nor-
mally encountered with these materials. These situations can range
from the small additional amounts of radon released when soil is
plowed or otherwise tilled, to the movement of large amounts of ores
containing the uranium series. When these ores are taken from a
position deep in the earth, where the radon decays before reaching the
surface, to the surface of the earth, a fraction of the radon is released
to the atmosphere.
In this section, the discussion is primarily on the enhancement of
uranium and radium in several specific areas where the more important
exposures may occur.
 3.3 EXAMPLES OF ENHANCED CONCENTRATIONS / 17
3.3.1 Uranium Mining and Milling.
Uranium is mined either in underground mines or in open pits. The
ore in the United States contains up to 1000 times the concentration
of uranium found in average soils.
The primary effluent from mining is the release of radon. While
good estimates of the total amount of radon released are not available,
Jackson et al., (1980) reported measurements on 27 underground
mines. The average emission rate was 5700 Ci/y with a range from
170 to 30,000 Ci/y.
After mining, the ore is taken to a mill for extraction of the uranium.
The ore itself is close to equilibrium between the 238U and its daughters.
Thus an ore containing 0.2% UaOs will have about 560 microcuries of
each of the daughters per metric ton of ore or about 560 pCi of each
per gram.
After separation, a large part of the uranium (both 238Uand 234U)
will be in the product, but the other daughters remain in the residue,
known as tailings. The tailings are discharged from the mill as a slurry
and are placed on a tailings pile. Because the radium is in the tailings,
the radon emanation from the tailings pile is considerably greater
than that from normal soil in the area. However, Shearer and Sill
(1969) have shown that, for at least three tailings piles, the radon
from the pile cannot be measured above local background at distances
of 1 km or more.
The radon emanation rate from a tailings pile will continue for very
long periods of time because the long-lived 230Th, the immediate
predecessor of 226Ra,remains in the residue and will continue to
generate radium.
An important source of enhanced radiation associated with tailings
was the past use of the material under foundations and as backfill for
buiidings. These tailings are a very clean sand and are attractive for
such uses. The high radium content, however, results in increased
gamma radiation and, more importantly, increased levels of radon and
its daughters in buildings.

3.3.2 Phosphate Production.

A principal source of phosphate for fertilizers and other products is
rock that contains high concentrations of phosphate. Currently, there
are mines in Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Montana, Utah,North Caro-
lina and Wyoming. About one-half of the mines is located in central
Florida.
These phosphate rock ores contain above-average uranium concen-
trations. Mining of the ore is usually by strip mining. The mined rock
18 / 3. SOIL CONTENT AND TRANSPORT
TABLE - and ash IEPA. -
3.2-Uranium in coal 1979).
-
Uranium concentration
(micrograms/gmm)
T y p of coal -
Coal Asb
Anthracite 1.5 9
Eastern bituminous 1.9 38
Western bituminous 1.9 16
Lienite 2.3 22

is crushed and separated from sand and clay by a series of screening

and flotation steps. Following this, the ore is dried and sorted according
to particle size. This material is then used to produce products such
as phosphoric acid and fertilizers. The sand, clay and/or fines are
returned to mined out areas as fill.
The radioactivity in the unmined phosphate rock, which is usually
near the surface, also results in areas of higher than average concen-
trations of radioactivity in the surface soils. This can result in elevated
gamma radiation from the soils as well as increased radon concentra-
tions in the homes.
Also, land reclaimed after strip mining can have higher radium
concentrations, leading to enhanced radon concentrations in buildings.
For example, in 12 Florida houses built on reclaimed land, four were
above 0.05 WL, while none of nine houses on natural land exceeded
this value (DHRS,1978).

3.3.3 Electricity Generated from Coal.

Coals contain uranium in various amounts depending on the source.
This uranium and many of its daughters tend to stay with the ash
when the coal is burned. Thus any fly ash escaping to the atmosphere
will carry some radioactivity that will be inhaled or deposited on plants
or on the soil. The concentrations of uranium vary widely, but some
indications of mean values are given in Table 3.2.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 1979) estimated that
a modern coal-fired electricity generating plant of 550 MWe would
have a coal input of about 1.5 million tons per year. This amount of
coal with a uranium content of 1.9 micrograms per gram will contain
about 3 tons of uranium. The emissions will depend on the design of
the combustion chamber and on the air-cleaning equipment used for
the off-gas air. The EPA (1979) estimated emissions from a model
coal-fired plant of about 0.06-0.2 Ci of 238Uand 234U,and 0.02-0.7 Ci
of '*'Ra per year.
4. External Radiation
4.1 Introduction
The overall population-weighted absorbed dose rate in air in the
United States from external terrestrial radiation is estimated to be
about 40 mrad/y. The absorbed dose is corrected by a housing shielding
factor of 0.8 and a body-shielding factor of 0.8 to obtain a dose
equivalent rate of 26 mrem/y (NCRP 1975). The United Nations
Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR,
1982) has adopted a body shielding factor of 0.7, but the values in this
report (Table 1.1) have not been modified from those in the 1975
NCRP report. This dose is essentially from gamma rays and X rays
and the dose equivalent is considered to be uniform throughout the
body. This is not strictly correct for skin and other surface organs;
however, it is within 210% for gonads, lung, bone marrow and the
gastrointestinal tract.
At a particular location, the primary determinant of the absorbed
dose rate is the soil concentration of the primordial radionuclides:
potassium-40, uranium-238 and its daughters and thorium-232 and its
daughters. The radioactivity of surface soil is that of the rock from
which it derived as modified by a number of geological and meteoro-
logical factors. Human activities can also alter surface radioactivity:
these include tillage, importation of soil, addition of fertilizer, con-
struction work and the like. The mining and processing of uranium
ores and the mining of phosphate deposits that contain uranium can
produce significant local variations in the external terrestrial radiation
field.
A soil layer about 0.25 m thick furnishes the external gamma
radiation from the ground (NCRP, 1975) and can mask bedrock of
substantially greater or lesser activity. The variability in terrestrial
radiation from the primordial radionuclides is larger than that from
the other external source of human exposure: cosmic radiation. The
latter is not considered in any detail in this report. Approximately
one-fourth of the average background absorbed dose rate in air-about
10 to 12 mrad/y-is contributed by the uranium series. This is largely
determined by the '14Bi daughter of 226Rain the soil and the concen-
tration of the atmospheric daughters of gaseous 2nRn that escapes the
soil. Since the 214Biactivity builds up toward equilibrium with 226Ra
19
20 / 4. EXTERNAL RADIATION
quite rapidly, the soil concentration of 226Rais an indicator of the
expected gamma dose from the uranium series.
At 1 m above the surface, the gamma radiation absorbed dose rate
from the daughters of radon in the atmosphere is a function of
meteorological conditions. Beck (1974) has calculated the expected
external absorbed dose rate outdoors for four different conditions of
atmospheric stability and estimates 0.4, 1.0, 2.3, and 11 mrad/y for
strong mixing, normal turbulence, weak mixing and strong inversion
conditions, respectively. These correspond to concentrations of ap-
proximately 30, 70, 200 and 1000 pCi/m3, respectively for the daugh-
ters. For a typical time-averaged radon daughter concentration of 150
pCi/m3, the resulting absorbed dose rate in air would be about 1.7
mrad/y. This is approximately 20% of the total gamma dose from the
uranium series and less than 5% of the total external gamma dose
under typical conditions.
The alpha absorbed dose rate in air from radon and its daughters in
the lower atmosphere varies in a similar fashion, and is typically
estimated to be 10-50 mrad/y. The external whole body dose from the
accompanying gamma radiation is negligible. Note, however, that the
dose equivalent to the respiratory tract from inhaled radionuclides-
principally radon and its short-lived daughters-may be far from
negligible.
There are two basic sources of experimental data from which we
can infer absorbed dose rates in air due to natural background radia-
tion from terrestrial sources. The first is the measurement of external
dose rates in air through surveys a t ground level, conventionally at 1
m above the surface-The second is the estimation of ground-level dose
through aerial surveys, generally conducted a t about 150 m above the
surveyed terrain, with traverses spaced about 1.6 km apart. Both of
these systems include gamma radiation from radionuclides in the
ground and in the atmosphere. Results from the two methods have
been found to be compatible. Either system can be used to identify
regions where the radioactivity deviates significantly from the average,
but only a small fraction of the United States has been mapped. Bogen
and Goldin (1981) have published estimates of extemal gamma radia-
tion and cosmic-ray exposures on a state-by-state basis, interpolating
from the available data.

4.2 Indoor Exposuree

A considerable portion of the introductory material in this section
has described the situation for the average natural background expo-
 4.2 INDOOREXPOSURES / 21
sure to external radiation from the uranium series. This description
was mostly devoted to outdoor exposures, with a note that the average
shielding factor for housing has been taken as 0.8 (NCRP, 1975). Some
additional detail on building materials is included in this section.
Radiation exposure from building materials may arise from gamma-
emitting nuclides in the material itself. The exposure is different from
that outdoors, since the geometry is nearly 4 pi steradians, that is the
occupants are almost completely surrounded by the source rather than
being on a plane surface. This geometric effect is limited to less than
4 pi by the fact that not all of the building materials or furniture are
equally radioactive and that windows, doors and the like are relatively
non-radioactive.
Any structure gives some shielding against terrestrial radiation and,
of course, may increase the separation of the occupants from the
ground source. Thus the indoor gamma exposure is a balance between
those factors tending to decrease the exposure levels and the concen-
trations of radionuclides in the building materials. The range of
exposure for normal buildings seems to be about +30% compared with
normal outdoor exposure. The lower values are associated with wooden
buildings, while the higher values are found in masonry structures. In
the case of multistory masonry buildings, virtually all of the gamma
radiation on the upper floors comes from the materials and not from
the ground. The exposure is still close to the outdoor value because
many building materials have radioactivity contents close to that of
soils.
Cameras and Rickards (1973) reported some measurements on
shielding. General conclusions from their data indicate that a 12Y2 cm
wood frame wall would reduce outdoor gamma dose rates by a factor
of 2, a brick wall by a factor of 4, and a 20 cm solid concrete wall by a
factor of 20. It should be noted that windows and doors have little
shielding value.
Investigators in a number of countries have begun to measure
building materials or buildings constructed with different materials to
assess radiation exposures. Table 4.1 has been adapted and simplified
from the 1977 UNSCEAR Report, using the data where the same
materials were measured in different countries. The Table shows the
concentrations of the radionuclides and the calculated absorbed dose
rates in air, using 4 pi geometry with the dose conversion factors of
Beck (1972).The calculated dose rates are higher than those measured
in actual houses by factors of 2 or 3, for the reasons discussed above.
Eichholz et al., (1980) conducted a series of measurements on
building materials, estimated the indoor gamma exposure rates, then
measured the actual gamma radiation dose rates in the finished
22 / 4. EXTERNALRADIATION

TABLE
4.1-Concentrations of radionuclides i n building materiak, with an estimate of
the resulting absorbed dose rate i n air.
(Ade~tedfrom UNSCEAR. 1977.)
Absorbed
dqse rate
Material Country *)K
(PC~/P)
=Ra
(&i/g)
Yh
(pcllg) ~n a ~ r
(mrad/y)
Brick FR Germany 16 2.6
Sweden 25 2.6
USSR 20 1.5
UK 17 1.4

Concrete FR Germany 15 1.8

Sweden' 19 1.3
USSR' 15 0.9
UK 14 2.0

Cement FR Germany 5 1.2

Sweden 6 1.5
USSR 6 1.2
UK - -

Plaster FR Germany 2 <0.5

Sweden 0.6 0.1
USSR 10 0.2
UK 4 0.6

Granite FR Germany 33 2.6

Sweden - -
USSR 40 3
UK 28 2.4

Soilb Us 12 0.6
' Heavy concrete.
LOwder et a1 (1964), 200 samples.
'Calculated to 4 pi geometry for comparison purposes.

buildings. These buildings were one-story houses of brick, wood and

concrete built in Atlanta, GA. By assuming only 2 pi geometry, they
found the estimates agreed quite well with subsequent measurements
in houses. The indoor absorbed dose rates in air for 23 houses ranged
from about 20 to 100 mrad/y.

4.3 Elevated Natural Background Areas

The limited distribution of external radiation measurements in the

United States leaves open the possibility that undiscovered areas of
 4.4 ENHANCED NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY AREAS / 23
elevated natural exposure exist. On the other hand, many of the aerial
surveys were intended for mineral exploration and the states where
elevated exposures might be expected have been covered.
In the United States, elevated localities include the Denver area
where outdoor values ranging from 75 to 140 mrad/y have been found
over undisturbed land. Surveys in the Florida phosphate region showed
that residents in about 5% of the houses on undisturbed land had
exposures greater than 120 mrad/y.
As a matter of interest, gamma radiation measurements in Kerala,
India, in villages located on monazite deposits, have been reported to
range from 130 to 2800 mrad/y.
Elevated natural levels or enhanced levels in building materials have
been reported and were summarized by UNSCEAR (1977) and by the
Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA, 1979). The amount of information is
not large and little of it refers to the United States. Concrete contain-
ing alum shale that is high in radium, as used in Sweden, gave a
calculated dose of 1300 mrad/y. Phosphosgypsum (also high in radium)
gave values of 600 mrad/y as calculated in the United Kingdom and
1100 mrad/y in the United States. Red slime bricks, using a by-product
of the aluminum industry, are high in thorium and gave a dose rate of
500 mrad/y as calculated in the Federal Republic of Germany. As in
previous cases mentioned, doses measured in dwellings are consider-
ably lower than the calculated values.

4.4 Enhanced Natural Radioactivity Areas

The enhanced levels of external radiation observed in the United

States and Canada are mostly caused by the high levels of radium in
mining and processing residues.
Average soil in the United States contains 0.5-1 pCi of 226Raper
gram of soil, although there is considerable variability. The mining
and milling of uranium ore bodies produces uranium that is relatively
free of other elements of the series, while the other radionuclides are
in the waste streams. For example, some tailings piles in the Western
States have been found to have '"Ra concentrations ranging from 100
to 500 pCi/g. Soil samples from the site a t Canonsburg, PA where
wastes from the extraction of radium from carnotite ores have collected
for several decades and where wastes from some operations of the
Manhattan Project were accumulated, have been found to have 226Ra
concentrations as high as 14,000 pCi/g. In one swampy area a t the
site, 226Raconcentrations of 4000 pCi/g are present a t a depth of 3-4
meters.
24 / 4. EXTERNALRADIATION
The situation in the phosphate mining areas of Florida is quite
different from the Western sites. When measurements are made over
debris, overburden, slimes, and soil from the leach zone, the external
gamma dose rates are variable but high. On reclaimed land, dose rates
range from 90 to 350 mrad/y in air, at 1 meter above ground. Very
approximately, such rates should be associated with 226Raconcentra-
tions of 6-22 pCi/g. When phosphate rock is treated with sulfuric acid
to produce phosphoric acid, gypsum (calcium sulfate) is a by-product.
The 228Raconcentration in the gypsum may be 30-40 pCi/g. The
ammonium phosphate fertilizer may have coneentrations on the order
of 5-6 pCi/g.
The amounts of these wastes from uranium and phosphate process-
ing are large. A national inventory of uranium tailings is maintained
by Oak Ridge National Laboratory: in 1980 there were 25 million
tonnes of tailinge a t 24 inactive mills in the Western states and 150
million tonnes a t 21 active mills. New tailinge are accumulating a t the
rate of about 25 million tonnes per year. The volumes are equally
impressive: there are now about 100 million cubic meters of uranium
tailings with a yearly increment of about 15 million cubic meters. In
Florida, the gypsum piles are accumulating a t the rate of 11 million
tonnes per year and the amount on hand is approaching a billion
tonnes.
The total area affected by mining and milling operations is not
great-several thousand acres-and most of it is in regions where
relatively few people live. These vast piles, however, have been consid-
ered as presenting local problems in addition to their external gamma
radiation fields. Heavy storms have caused piles to collapse and
contaminate water courses; rains leach out the radioactivity and toxic
chemicals into ground waters and aquifers, and winds blow away an
unknown amount every year.
As far as building materials are concerned, some of those described
in the section on elevated natural areas might really be classified as
enhanced radioactivity, but separation of the two in this case ie
difficult. The problem with uranium b$-products has generally been
the use of mill tailings as fill under and around houses rather than
with building materials as such. In Port Hope, Ontario, actual building
materials coming from the demolition of a radium refinery were re-
used (Spurgeon, 1976).Other enhanced exposures to external radiation
have resulted from the use of land reclaimed following phosphate
mining and milling operations in Florida and the use of phosphate
slag in road-building and construction around Butte, Montana.
 Inhalation

The major exposure of the population to radiation from the uranium

series arises by inhalation of the short-lived daughter products of
"'Rn. Most of the early measurements that were applied to population
exposures were made outdoors for other purposes. During the last few
years, it has become apparent that indoor concentrations are generally
several times higher than those outdoors. Combining this with the
fact that people in western countries spend only about 15% of their
time outdoors, indoor concentrations are the more significant concern.
This section will, therefore, emphasize the indoor levels as a basis for
dose estimates and for the recommendation of limits.

5.1 Outdoor Radon a n d Radon Daughters

The average outdoor radon concentration was given in NCRP

Report No. 45 (1975) as 150 pCi/m3 for land areas of the northern
hemisphere, while UNSCEAR (1982) gives a value of 100 pCi/m3 over
the continents. The data on geographic variability are very limited,
but diurnal and seasonal variations reach factors of two or three. A
few measurements on daughter product equilibrium outdoors indicate
that the daughters average about 60% of equilibrium, while measure-
ments close to the radon source show a lower degree of equilibrium. A
very rough value for the average outdoor Working Level (defined in
Section 1.5) would be 0.0006 to 0.0009 W L corresponding to 100 and
150 pCi/m3, assuming 60% equilibrium.
Elevated and enhanced levels of radon outdoors may be as high as
1000 pCi/m3 over sizeable areas. Even higher values of radon may be
measured directly on tailings piles. The concentration falls off rapidly
with distance from the source while the degree of equilibrium increases
with time. Elevated or enhanced outdoor air concentrations may also
contribute to indoor exposures in the ventilation of houses that have
low inherent concentrations. High outdoor concentrations could then
reduce or even reverse the normal dilution effect.
25
26 / 5. INHALATION

5.2 Indoor Radon and Radon Daughters

T h e most important factor in assessing the exposure and in esti-
mating the risk from natural radioactivity of the uranium series is the
actual measurement of radon and radon daughter concentrations in
the specific house. As has been shown, estimates derived from a few
measurements in the same area lead to dose and risk figures which
may be unrelated to actual exposures.
The purpose of this section is to describe the relevant measurements
that have been made. These measurements have been directed towards
determining:
(1) the concentrations of radon and radon daughters present in the
home;
(2) the means of radon entry into the home;
(3) the pathways followed by the radon in the home;
(4) the source of the levels measured-in nature, human activity or
a combination of both;
(5) the variation of radon concentration by area in the home, by
season, by ventilation practices, by household activities, and by
occupancy and other factors;
(6) the means of reducing radon daughter concentrations in the
home;
(7) the doses and risks that can be expected from this radioactivity.
There are many studies of radon and radon daughter concentrations
in progress around the world. It has been necessary to be selective in
order to present relevant data for the purposes of this report.

Surveys for radon and radon daughter concentrations were started

in Canada in 1975 in response to the concern over radioactive contam-
ination resulting from past operations and disposal practices in the
uranium and radium refining industry. The surveys were then ex-
tended to uranium mining communities and finally to other areas in
Canada to determine the so-called "normaln or average background
levels of radon and radon daughters in homes.
Surveys of uranium miningproperties showed that 18% of the homes
had radon daughter levels greater than 0.02 WL. The highest value
measured was in Uranium City, Saskatchewan, where 2.5 WL was
found. These communities showed high radon daughter levels due to
elevated or enhanced natural background. In some cases, rock removed
in the development of one or more of the mines was used as a
construction aggregate. In other cases, the houses were built directly
 5.2 INDOOR RADON AND RADON DAUGHTERS / 27
on top of the ore bodies. The communities of South March, Ontario
and Castlegar, British Columbia are not associated with uranium
mining but are located in geological areas with elevated uranium. A
large number of measurements are available from these communities
as shown in Tables 5.1-5.3 (Eaton, 1982; Knight and Makepeace, 1980;
McGregor, 1979; Taniguchi, 1977; Taniguchi and Vasudev, 1978).
Another survey was carried out over a period of three summers to
determine the radon and radon daughter levels in homes in major
Canadian cities (Letourneau et al., 1979; McGregor et al., 1980).
Nineteen cities were sampled during the summer, using a statistically
proven sampling technique on a grab sample basis. Most samples were
taken in basements with doors and windows left as they were when
the inspectors arrived. The purpose of this survey was to determine
the geographical distribution of radon and radon daughter levels for a
majority of the population. Approximately 4% of the homes had radon
daughter concentrations greater than 0.02 WL, with a maximum of
0.23 WL. The results for these cities, for both radon and radon
daughters, are indicated in Table 5.4. It is worth noting that the prairie
provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta would be expected
t o show low radon concentrations, on the basis of geology, but the
table indicates that they are the highest in Canada.
Other studies were done in Canada with repeated samplings in the

TABLE5.1.wRadon daughter concentratwns in houses in Canado suspected of having

enhanced natural background. (Knight and Makepeace, 1980.)
Location Number of Geometric
housea mean WL
Port Hope (radiumluranium refinery) 2961 0.0029'
Cobourg (reference area-spring) 106 0.0014'
-autumn) 97 0.0015'
Uranium City (uranium mining) 632 0.013
Elliot Lake (uranium mining) 1921 0.008
Bancroft Area (uranium mining) 1162 0.007
Deloro (metallur~caloperations) 68 0.006
Estimated from radon concentrations using an equilibrium factor of 0.3.

TABLE5.2-Houses requiring remedial action in four areas of Canoda. (radon daughter

levels >0.02 W Lor excessive external gamma.) f ~ a t o n1982.)
,
Number of Houses Port How Elliot Lake Bancroft Uranium City
Initially surveyed 3500 1920 1170 545
Requiring remedial 450 120 140 100
action
Proportion 13% 6% 12% 18%
Source Contamination Largely natural with some surface con-
tamination
28 / 5. INHALATION

TABLE5.3.-Distribution of indoor rodon daughter concentrations in selected

communities.
Distribution of Rn daughter (WL)
Number of concentrations in 96 Geometric
Location properties m.01 M.02 reference mean
C0.01 4.02 4.16 M.15
Bancroft, Ont. 1162 61.7 21.6 12.9 0.9 0.007'
Elliot Lake, Ont. 1921 63.3 20.4 15.4 0.9 0.00s'
Uranium City, Sask. 632 50.5 19.7 25.7 4.0 0.01"
South March, Ont. 343 75.2 11.7 12.0 1.2 0 . W

C&legar/"I'rail, B.C. 135 52.6 14.1 24.4 2.2 0.009d

Trail, B. C. 118 85.6 8.5 5.1 0.8 0.0032~
Port Hope,Ont. 2961 - - - - 0.0029U
Cobowg, Ont. (Spring) 106 - - - - 0.0014w
[Autumn) 97 - - - - 0.0015U
'Knight and Makepiece, 1980.
Taniychi, 1977.
'Taniguchi and Vasudev, 1978.
McGregor. 1979.
'Estimated from radon concentrations aseuming an equilibrium factor of 0.3.

same home to determine the diurnal and seasonal variations in the

radon and radon daughter concentrations (Case, 1979; Scott, 1979).
The results of these studies established that, even in the absence of
known high uranium concentrations and in the absence of contami-
nation, there is still a wide spread of radon and radon daughter values
in Canadian homes. Generally, all cities show a log-normal distribution
of the radioactivity, while the curve is shifted from one geographic
area to another. There is a statistically significant difference between
the cities.

6.2.2 United States

While no generalized survey of the United States has been under-
taken, a number of local measurements have been made in response
to specific problems or to study diurnal or seasonal variations in radon
and radon daughter concentrations in homes. The results of these
measurements are summarized in Table 5.5.
A large portion of west central Florida is underlain with deposits of
phosphate rock. In general, the deposits are covered with a layer of
topsoil measuring from 3 to 20 meters thick. Immediately above the
phosphate ore, there may be a leach zone measuring up to 3 meters
thick which contains a relatively high concentration of 226Raand its
decay products. When the phosphate ore is removed by strip mining,
the overburden and leach zone may well be mixed, resulting in more
 5.2 INDOOR RADON AND RADON DAUGHTERS / 29
TABLE
5.4.-Radon and radon k h t e r concentrations in Canadian homee.
( ~ c ~ r e &etr4 1980.')
Radon, (pCil m9 Radon daughters, (WL)
m i ,metric
mean devlat~on mean d?dard
denetaon
Brandon, Man. 840 5.0 0.0034 2.7
Calgary, Alta. 310 3.6 0.0019 2.3
Charlottetown, P. E. I. 410 5.3 0.0018 2.6

Edmonton, Alta. 460 4.5 0.0028 2.3

Fredericton, N. B. 660 4.0 0.0032 2.9
Halifax, N. S. - - 0.0031 3.1

Montreal, P. Q. 290 3.3 0.0014 2.5

Quebec, P. Q. 280 3.8 0.0013 2.7
Regina, Sask. 1330 3.8 0.0044 2.9
St. John, N. B. 270 5.7 0.0018 3.0

St. John's. Nfld. 300 4.4 0.0015 2.7

St. Lawrence, Nfld. 880 6.8 0.0017 4.6
Saskatoon, Sask. 420 4.3 0.0034 2.5

Sherbrooke, P. Q. 360 5.4 0.0023 33

Sudbury, Ont. 580 4.0 0.0036 3.0
Thunder Bay, Ont. 540 4.4 0.0025 2.6

Toronto, Ont. 310 2.8 0.0018 2.6

Vancouver, B. C. 140 3.0 0.0009 2.0
Winniwe. Man. 1540 4.6 0.0058 3.1
'Data from Brandon, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg-R. G. McGregor,
peraonal communication.

radioactive material being left on the surface. The ore itself is mined
and, after a series of refining operations, the slimes and sand tailings
are returned to the site where the ore was removed Approximately
half of the radionuclide content of the phosphate rock is returned to
the mined areas with the slimes and about 12% ends up in the sand
tailings. The radium removed from the ore ends up in the gypsum by-
product, with a typical 226Raconcentration in the gypsum of 30-40
pCi/g. No structures are built on the gypsum piles a t this time.
It is apparent, therefore, that houses built on reclaimed mined lands
where the radioactive soil is at or near the surface and houses built on
non-mined lands where the phosphate deposits are near the surface
may contain relatively high concentrations of radon and radon daugh-
ters.
Actual measurements in central Florida show that radon daughter
30 / 5. INHALATION

TABLE5.5-Indoor radon and radon daughter product concentrations i n the United

-- States, (R PC, 1980.)

Location number of Average

radon Average Measurement
houses (*it m3) WL conditions

New York/New Jersey

basements Year-round
first floors Year-round
Grand Junctionb
Background houses Year-round
Florida
phosphate areaC Year-round
backgroundd Year-round
background' Year-round
backgroundr Year-round
Montanaa
Butte Year-round
Anaconda Year-round
Alabama, othersh
phosphate slag-basements Jan-May
phosphate slag-first floors Jan-May
background basements Jan-May
San Francisco Fkgion' Grab/Closed
house.
Grab/Closed
house
Soda Springs, Idahd Grab/Closed
house
" Environmental Measurements Laboratory-median values.
Colorado Dept. of Health.
'EPA and Florida Dept. of Health and Rehabilitative Services.
EPA.
"Florida Dept. of Health and Rehabilitative Services.
'University of Florida.
a EPA and Montana Dept. of Health and Environmental Services.
Tennessee Valley Authority.
' Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
' Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare.
concentrations within the homes range from 0.001 to 0.1 WL (DHRS,
1978). Results show that there is a significant difference in the radon
levels between homes built on reclaimed land and those built on
undisturbed, unmineralized land. Significantly, the same factors ap-
pear in these measurements as have been found in other areas where
homes have been built on soils containing relatively high levels of
226
Ra. The mean WL of homes built on reclaimed land was 0.015,
while on undisturbed, unmineralized land the mean was 0.004. Another
significant difference was the distribution of values. No values above
0.011 were found on unmineralized land, while homes on reclaimed
 5.2 INDOOR RADON AND RADON DAUGHTERS / 31
land showed what appeared to be a bimodal distribution, with a
significant portion of the homes above 0.02 WL.
In 1978, the Montana Department of Health and Environmental
Sciences (Lloyd, 1981b) found that phosphate slag had been used aa
concrete aggregate for construction in Butte. The Department sus-
pected that enhanced radon levels might be found in homes and
commercial buildings using this material. A group of 121 homes in the
area plus a group of control homes were checked for gamma radiation
and radon daughters, and it was found that radon daughter levels were
elevated equally above average background levels in both groups. The
data are indicated later in Table 8.1 which shows that 7% of the homes
were above 0.1 WL. This is a case of elevated natural, rather than
enhanced exposure.
Rundo et al. (1982) measured radon concentrations in houses in the
Chicago area. They found a geometric mean of 0.5 pCi/l for first floors
(44 houses) and 0.7 pCi/l for second floors (26 houses). Assuming 50%
equilibrium, the WL's would be 0.0025 and 0.0035. They also found a
geometric mean for basements and crawl spaces of 1.6 pCi/l (91
houses), or a WL of about 0.008.
A study of 26 dwellings in New York and New Jersey over a 2-year
period indicated a range of mean radon daughter concentrations from
0.002 to 0.01 WL (George and Breslin, 1980). In basements, concen-
trations tended to be about twice the concentrations on main floors.
For lack of more definitive data, their median value of 0.004 WL has
been used to describe average indoor radon daughter exposures in the
United States.

5.2.3 Sweden
The majority of the studies in Sweden has been on houses built of
aerated concrete based on alum shale and tailings from shale workings.
These materials have an average radium content of 20 to 65 pCi/g
(Swedjemark, 1980; 1981). Studies on elevated natural radon concen-
trations in homes have not yet been reported.

Eighty-seven dwellings were measured by an indirect method in

England and Scotland. The mean radon daughter concentration was
found to be 0.0035 WL (Cliff, 1978; 1980). Further studies are in
progress.
32 1 6. INHALATION
6.2.6 Finlund
Castren et d ,(1977) and Castren (1980) have investigated the radon
and radon daughter levels in homes due to radon emanating from
water drawn from private drilled wells. They estimate that some
individuals are exposed to between 20 and 25 WLM per year and that
a cumulative exposure of 200 WLM has been exceeded by a few. More
than 10,000 people in Helsinki are estimated to be exposed to more
than 2 WLM/y. Radon concentrations in air have been found to be as
high as 100,000 pCi/m3.

6.2.6 Austria
Four hundred houses in Salzburg and about 100 houses in the
Gastein area were measured for radon and radon daughters. The
distribution of radon values in homes was typical for elevated natural
background areas with evidence of multiple distributions. The range
was from 100 to 5200 pCi/m3, with a median of 400 pCi/m3 (Stein-
haueler et al., 1975).

6.3 Origins of Radon

Radon-222 is the gaseous daughter product of '=Ra and is there-

fore, formed wherever '=Ra is present. The majority of the radon
found in homes comes from the soil air, which moves to the atmosphere
by diffusion. A complicating factor is that this radon in soil air often
dissolves in ground water, which then transports the radon to sites
distant from where it was formed. The radon will emanate from the
ground water when the water reaches the surface near foundations or
near sumps. Drinking water from wells (or potable ground water) can
also be the source of radon to the air as has been shown in Finland
(Castren et al., 1977; Caetren, 1980) and Halifax (McGregor and
Gourgon, 1980). Emanation of radon from building materials follows
the same diffusion pattern as that from soil. Surface contamination
with from commercial operations has been responsible for ele-
vated indoor radon daughter concentrations in a few areas such as
Port Hope in Canada.

6.4 Sources of Radon in Buildings

It has been customary to describe radon levels indoors as average

natural, elevated natural, and enhanced or man-made. It is easy to
 5.5 RADON CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN THE HOME / 33
describe some enhanced sources when the radon concentrations result
from radium contamination due to refined products. However, the
distinction is blurred between elevated and enhanced sources in the
case of uranium mining areas where waste mine rock with an uneco-
nomic grade of uranium concentration is indistinguishable from the
normal bedrock throughout the building areas. Also, it is difficult to
define natural as applying to anything except outside air, since the
building of a home and the digging of a basement can be considered
causes for elevated or even enhanced levels.
There are a number of primary pathways by which radon enters
homes. It is now known that poured or solid concrete is not readily
permeable to radon. In this case, the pathway would be diffusion of
radon emanating from the radium-containing aggregate in the con-
crete. In areas of high natural radioactivity, the aggregate can have a
high radium content, but studies have shown that the amount of radon
emanating from concrete is low. Thus, diffusion of radon from solid
concrete is not a serious problem, except in well-sealed modem homes.
Cracks in the concrete basement walls or basement slabs are the
most common source of radon diffusion into the home. These cracks
can be microscopic and still be very effective. The joint between the
wall and the floor is the next most common pathway. Other sources
are loose-fitting pipes through walls or floors and floor drains con-
nected to weeping tiles providing a direct pathway into the basement.
In the case of water-borne radon gas, the most common entrance
pathway has been a sump without a cover or with a loose-fitting cover.
In many cases in Canada, placing a tight-fitting cover on the sump
has reduced the radon levels in basements to ambient levels.

5.5 Variations of Radon Concentrations Within the Home

Radon concentrations within the home vary enormously according

to different factors which are described below (McCullough et al.,
1981).Generally speaking, the concentrations decrease from the base-
ment to the first floor and from the first floor to the higher floors for
times of normal human activity. However, other situations have been
described which involve the so-called chimney effect, mostly occurring
in winter, whereby radon concentrations on the first or second floor
are higher than in the basement. This can occur whenever there is a
vertical channel which brings up air from the basement through
pressure or temperature differentials. The chimney effect can be an
entry route in houses built with hollow block basement walls which
34 / 5. INHALATION

can funnel soil gases up through the walls to the first floor. The same
effect has been observed in one house in Deloro, Ontario, where the
levels in the kitchen were consistently higher than than those in the
basement. In this case, the source of radon was radioactive fill against
the basement walls. Diurnal variations indicate that the radon con-
centrations are generally higher in the early morning. Barometric
pressure is also a cause of variations of radon concentration in homes
where a decrease in barometric pressure is followed by an increase in
radon concentration. The rate of change of pressure seems to be more
important than the actual value of the pressure.
Seasonal variations in radon concentrations in homes have been
recorded (Case, 1979; Scott, 1979). However, these seasonal variations
are different depending on the area in North America where the
measurements have been made and on the type of heating system
used. In temperate climates, it often appears that the indoor radon
concentrations are greater in summer than in winter. Other studies in
the same area show the opposite effect and, in Canada, both effects
have been measured. It would apear that during the heating season,
the basic factor is increased or decreased ventilation. In homes with
electric heating, radon concentrations tend to increase in winter with
the sealing of the house. Homes with fossil fuel heating often show a
decrease as air is sucked in through the basement and up the chimney
for combustion purposes. There is also another factor that depends on
the type of heating system used. With radiators or convectors, radon
concentrations tend to increase in winter. With forced air systems,
radon daughter concentrations tend to decrease because of the plating
out effect caused by movement of air through the ducts.
Recently, there is also the suggestion of the "snow effect" in winter.
Rio Algom has discovered in Elliot Lake that snow piled up against
the houses increases the indoor radon levels and removal of the snow
lowers the levels. The hypothesis is that the snow traps radon ema-
nating at the soil interface on the outside of the foundation, thus
allowing it to diffuse into the basement.
Family activity within the home is also responsible for variations in
radon concentrations. Opening and closing of doors and windows,
which is frequent in homes with many occupants or with children,
tends to decrease the concentration. A word of warning on artificial
measurement conditions is in order here. In many areas, measurements
for regulatory or legal purposes have been made in closed homes when
the inhabitants are absent. This creates a dead air space where levels
of radon and radon daughters are artificially increased. The same
homes measured under conditions of normal activity show much lower
concentrations.
 5.6 REMEDIALMEASURES / 35
In summary, no general statement can be made concerning the
variations of radon and radon daughter concentrations in homes for a
whole continent. Representative, long-term measurements for each
locality and type of home are required before an assessment can be
made of these variations.

5.6 Remedial Measures

Radon and radon daughter concentrations may be reduced by the

following general procedures, many of which are illustrated in Figures
5.1-5.6 (illustrations are reproduced here by courtesy of the Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC, 1981)):
(1) Removing the source of radon;
(2) Diverting the radon before it enters the structure;
(3) Placing a barrier between the source and the open living space;
(4) Installing air cleaning equipment;
(5) Increasing the ventilation rate.
Examples of these may be detailed as follows:

weeplng t~le

footlnq

floor-wall join1
from
weeplng to sewer
tile ..
crack sealtng
P P penetration
~ and taping
double trapping of drams

Standard Remed~alAct~ons
I

Fig. 5.1. General techniques for reducing radon and radon daughter concentrations
in buildings.
5.6 REMEDIAL MEASURES / 37
38 / 5. INHALATION
5.6 REMEDIAL MEASURES I 39
40 / 5. INHALATION
MlLQ A N D SEWER SLPVICL ENTPANCL DETAIL:

Fig. 6.6. Details of water and sewer entrance sealing.

(1) In some cases, extraneous high-radium material, such as devel-

opment rock from mines, tailings or active gravel, has been
placed against the foundation or under the basement floor or
slab foundation. This material can be removed, thus solving the
problem. Replacing radioactive concrete walls or floors with
 5.7 EXPOSURE AND ESTIMATION OF DOSE / 41
concrete made from aggregate which is low in radium also
constitutes removal of the source. Contaminated material such
as lumber or concrete blocks can also be removed.
(2) Radon can be diverted by the installation of sub-floor ventilation
systems made of weeping tiles (see Figure 5.1) connected to.
either passive or active ventilation ducts and a chimney. Ema-
nated radon is thereby drawn away from the sub-basement space
and vented to outside air.
(3) Placing a barrier between the radon source and the living space
is done by either sealing cracks in concrete floors and walls and
around pipe penetrations, by adding traps and trap primers to
underfloor drains, by filling concrete block walls or by total
sealing of concrete walls.
(4) Radon daughter concentrations in houses may be reduced by
domestic air treatment. Various methods have been tried, but
the most effective has been the use of electrostatic precipitators
or electronic air cleaners. Such systems are already in common
use in Canada in homes with forced air heating. The levels of
radon daughters may be reduced by factors of 6 to 19 depending
on the conditions in the room.
(5) The last method is increasing the ventilation rate by increasing
the number of house air changes per hour. This may be by a
passive or active system. In northern climates it entails an extra
cost for heating the air. Air-to-air heat exchangers have been
designed to reduce this cost, and these heat exchangers are
becoming available commercially. Comparable considerations
for cooling incoming air would arise in southern climates.
All of these methods have been used and proven but no one tech-
nique has shown itself to be universally applicable or the most cost
effective. In many cases, in older Canadian homes, a combination of
techniques is required to bring the radon levels down to the Canadian
regulatory standards.
Similar systems have been developed for new housing construction.
Essentially, when the source of radon cannot be removed, solid poured
basements with special reinforcements to prevent cracking and special
sealants for floor-wall joints and pipe penetrations are required. Fi-
nally, hollow concrete blocks are not allowed because of the chimney
effect.

5.7 Measurement of Exposure and Estimation of Dose

The indoor exposure of individuals to radon and radon daughters is

difficult to eetimate, due to the variations in the concentrations with
42 / 5. INHALATION
season, time of day and ventilation for different floor levels in the
house. Added to these factors are the differing occupancy times for
the various occupants, who in turn have different breathing and
exposure patterns due to their age. In general, calculations with
rounded-off occupancy times tend to overestimate the exposure. The
exposure is usually derived from one or at most a few grab samples.
This is not satisfactory since the calculation of risk derived from
exposure to a group of individuals should be based on realistic meas-
urements and calculations of exposure.
The factor for converting radon daughter exposure to dose used in
this report is the one developed by Harley and Pasternack (1982).
While there are some variations in the model due to age and sex, a
single factor of 0.7 rad/WLM is satisfactory for our estimates of dose
to the bronchial epithelium. Using a quality factor of 20 for alpha
radiation, the dose equivalent factor is 14 rem/WLM. This is in
reasonable agreement with other estimates made for environmental
conditions and is also the value adopted by UNSCEAR (1982).
The dose equivalent rate from the assumed average exposure rate
in the United States (0.2 WLM/y) is about 3 rem/y to the bronchial
epithelium. Some of the Canadian cities listed in Table 5.4 show a
higher average, but not by a factor of two. The distribution of values
in Canada is such that a few percent of the population is above 1
WLM/y or 14 rem/y. A few houses in the United States with enhanced
radium levels show similar concentrations and a broader survey should
uncover a larger number.

5.8 Inhalation of Other Series Members

Uranium and radium in airborne dust appear to result from the

resuspension of soil and show the same concentrations as soil particles.
With an average dust loading of 100 micrograms/m3, the daily intakes
would be a few femtocuries each, much smaller than the dietary
intakes. Air samples taken near a uranium mill tailings pile showed a
uranium concentration of 1 pCi/m%nd a radium concentration of 0.2
pCi/m3 (Breslin and Glauberman, 1970). Both of these were down by
a factor of 10 at 1 km from the pile. The concentrations depend, of
course, on the levels in the resuspendable portion of the tailings and
on the dust loading generated by the winds.
The airborne long-lived daughters of radon, "'OPb and "'Po are
largely formed in the atmosphere and the long half-life of the 'IOPb
means that they have an existence independent of the parent radon.
 5.9 SUMMARY / 43
Like the short-lived daughters, they are attached to the ambient
aerosol so their lung deposition is similar. The longer half-lives mean,
however, that they have time to be metabolized before radioactive
decay occurs. The average ground level concentrations were given in
NCRP Report No. 45 (1975) as 10 and 1 fCi/m3 for 210Pband 210Po,
respectively. Geographic variability for 210Pbis about a factor of two
from the average. While the 210Pb,210Po combination gives an average
lung dose that is only a few percent of that from the short-lived radon
daughters, the skeletal dose from the inhaled short-lived radionuclides
is about one-fourth that from ingested 2'0Pb,210Po.
The average airborne concentrations of 210Pband *loPo do not
contribute large fractions of the average natural lung or bone dose.
Data from elevated or enhanced areas are almost entirely lacking, but
might be roughly estimated as being proportional to the relative radon
concentrations.

5.9 Summary

The significant inhalation exposures and consequent lung doses

from the uranium series arise from the short-lived daughter products
of 222Rn.Radon itself, as well as its precursors and its long-lived
daughters, does not contribute markedly to the average natural lung
dose.
The available data for indoor radon daughter concentrations in the
United States are inadequate to determine either an average exposure
or a distribution of exposures for the country. The most complete data
set, from Canada, indicates that the range of exposures is wide and
that there are a number of areas where elevated natural concentrations
of radon daughters occur. Areas of enhanced natural background also
exist in both Canada and the United States. These sites involve
relatively small population groups but usually show the highest expo-
sure rates of those measured.
Dose rates and dose equivalent rates for the exposures described are
summarized in Section 8.
6. Drinking Water

The discussion of radioactivity in drinking water has been separated

from that for the diet, chiefly because water is almost always of local
origin. Thus it is expected to vary more from place to place than foods
which tend to be distributed nationally. In addition, water supplies
are generally more easily contaminated by human activity than are
large blocks of agricultural land.
The type of water supply ranges from wells used by a single family
to large municipal systems furnishing water to millions of people. The
sources may be surface water, such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs or
ground water, where sub-surface waters feed springs and wells. Ground
water sources are usually referred to as aquifers, which are geologic
formations containing water. Ground water, of course, was surface
water at one time although the time underground may have been
hundreds of years. Durfer and Becker (1962) noted that about three-
quarters of the U.S. population use surface water supplies.
Some ground waters are saline or mineralized sufficiently not to be
potable. Such sources also tend to have higher radioactivity than the
potable waters. The high usage of water in many areas has led to a
reduction in quality as nearby saline waters intrude into the depleted
fresh water source. Salinity, and possibly natural radioactivity, also
tend to increase as the waters of rivers are used and reused in their
course downstream.
Water treatment in municipal systems usually removes suspended
solids by filtration, while flocculation plus additional filtration is
required to reduce hardness in some supplies. The latter operation
also reduces radium, lead and polonium contents to some extent.
Home water softeners are also effective in removing the same radio-
nuclides. Exposure of the population, thus, can only be assessed by
measuring the actual domestic supplies and data on raw waters are
only of scientific interest.
The relevant material is presented in order of the radionuclides
involved. In each case, the exposures are considered under the headings
of average natural, elevated natural and enhanced levels. Following
that, the doses from each element are considered.
44
 6.1 URANIUM I 45
6.1 Uranium

6.1.1 Average Natural Exposure.

Until recently, uranium in drinking water has been measured rarely,
except when contamination was suspected. Welford and Baird (1967)
found a concentration of 0.02 pCi/l in New York City tap water. This
would contribute about 8 pCi/y to intake compared with almost 400
pCi/y from the total diet. UNSCEAR (1977) noted that tap water
usually contains less than 0.03 pCi/l and would be a minor contributor
to human exposure. It would appear, however, that this conclusion is
based on the uranium content of surface waters, which are not univer-
sally used.
A large study, involving data from the National Uranium Resource
Evaluation (NURE) program plus data from the literature was pre-
pared for the EPA (Drury et al., 1981) and covered 90,000 water
samples. The 28,000 samples considered to be domestic supplies av-
eraged 1.7 pCi/l and a population-weighted mean value for finished
waters, based on 100 measurements was 0.8 pCi/l. The total data
included about 35,000 surface water samples which averaged 1.1pCi/
1 and 55,000 ground water samples which averaged 3.2 pCi/l. The
population mean of 0.8 pCi/l would indicate that the uranium intake
from water is about equal to the total from other diet components and
is thus not a negligible quantity.

6.1.2 Elevated Exposures.

Cline et al., (1981) measured 1400 public water supplies (90% ground
water) in the State of Georgia and found that 14 exceeded 10 pCi/l of
uranium. In these areas, the intake from drinking water would exceed
that in food. In other countries, Asikainen and Kahlos (1980) found a
mean of 15 pCi/l for drilled wells in Helsinki, Finland. All of these
wells also contained elevated levels of radium.
The U. S. Geological Survey carried out an extensive survey of
226Rain wells in Sarasota County, FL (Sutcliffe and Miller, 1981). A
few of these samples were also analyzed for uranium, which showed
concentrations about half that of the radium. Similar ratios were also
found by Scott (1962) in studies of wells in the Midwest. On the other
hand, Miyake et al., (1964) indicated that Japanese rivers give U/Ra
activity ratios of about 5, while continental ground waters tend toward
an equilibrium ratio. The New York City diet data (Welford and Baird,
46 / 6. DRINKING WATER

1967; Fisenne and Keller, 1970) showed a U/Ra ratio of 5 for water.
This difference between ground and surface water is reasonable but,
considering the relative toxicities of uranium and radium, the radium
would still be the controlling factor in risk assessment.
Scott and Barker (1962) reviewed data collected between 1954 and
1957 on total radium (226Raplus 228Ra)and uranium in water. Their
individual data on wells and springs used for drinking water have been
rearranged by geographical region for two concentration ranges of each
element. The data are shown in Table 6.1. It is worth noting that the
wells high in radium are usually not high in uranium, indicating that
the sources for the two elements may not be the same.
The data show that over 40% of the samples have readily measurable
concentrations of uranium. Few values higher than 5 pCi/l are found
in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains which also have low terrestrial
gamma radiation. The original report covered 561 samples including
industrial, stock watering and unused wells not included in the Table.
Many of these showed high levels of uranium, radium or both. The
wells in the Table included 270 municipal supplies, none of them
serving large cities, while the other wells and springs serve small
groups.

TABLE
6.1--Total radium and uranium in wells according to geographic region.
(Adapted from Scott and Barker, 1962.)
Total Radium-% with Uranium-% with
Region Number Ra
of Wells Ra above between U above U between
5 PC'A 1 & 5 pCi/, 5 'Lgll 1 & 5 'LgIl

New England 19 10 0 20
(ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI)
Middle Atlantic 23 13 0 44
(NY, NJ, PA)
South Atlantic 58 10 0 27
(DE. MD, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL)
East North Central 40 30 2 30
(OH, IN, IL, MI, WI)
West North Central 55 39 4 58
(MN, IA, MO, ND, SD, NE, KS)
East South Central 38 18 5 11
(KY, T N , AL, MS)
West South Central 44 29 11 32
(AR, LA, OK, T X )
Rocky Mountain 88 8 5 68
(MT, ID, WY, CO, NM, AZ, UT,
NV)
Pacific Coast" 44 14 7 39
(WA, OR, CA)
Total 409 19 4 42
"All but two of the wells showing detectable activity were in California.
 6.2 RADIUM / 47
The EPA study mentioned earlier (Dmry et al., 1981) showed that
several western states had domestic water supplies that averaged 2
pCi/l or above, with South Dakota having the maximum value of 7
pCi/l. This compares with the population-weighted mean of 0.8 pCi/l
estimated in the same report.

6.1.3 Enhanced Exposures.

Enhanced exposures to uranium in water were first noted following
contamination of the Animas River (Tsivoglou et al., 1959) when
uranium wastes were allowed to wash into the river. Since the wastes
were depleted in uranium compared to radium, the uranium did not
receive a great deal of attention. The radium picture will be presented
later.
Kaufmann et ad., (1976) reviewed the effects of uranium operations
around Grants, NM on the local ground water. Their preliminary
findings indicated that no adverse impacts had been observed, but
that longer-term studies were probably required. Some private wells
contained up to a few hundred pCi/l of uranium, but these did not
seem to be related to mine or mill effluents. The authors concluded
that 226Rameasurements would be more significant following a con-
taminating incident.

6.1.4 Radiation Doses.

The data in Chapter 7 indicate that average U. S. background diet
concentrations of uranium would deliver a dose equivalent of about
0.2 mrem/y to bone surfaces. These doses are based on measured
skeletal concentrations. On the average, the contribution from water
should be equal to or less than that from food intake. Higher dose
equivalent rates have been reported (NCRP, 1975; UNSCEAR, 1977),
but these were based on skeletal concentrations which now seem to
have been too high.

6.2 Radium

Radium in drinking water presents a potential hazard t o the popu-

lation and has been subject to loose regulation in several countries for
many years. The permissible level has usually been set in the range of
3 to 5 pCi/l. Many supplies that furnish drinking water to sizeable
groups in these countries do not meet such a standard but there has
48 / 6. DRINKING WATER

been no concerted effort a t enforcement. In addition, most of the

municipal supplies have not been measured and the average population
exposure cannot be estimated.
A study camed out in Illinois (Lucas, 1960) showed that the radium
in water was about twice as available for uptake as that in food. In
the early part of this chapter it was indicated that water was one of
the few dietary items that was generally of local origin. This means
that the body burdens of radium should vary with the concentration
of radium in drinking water from place to place. Unfortunately, radium
concentrations in bone specimens have only been reported for a few
locations where the water concentrations are known.

6.2.1 Average Natural Exposure.

There are insufficient data on which to base an estimate of the
average exposure to the population from 22BFh in water. While many
measurements have been made, most of them have been directed
toward elevated or enhanced levels, with no attention to the lower
concentrations.
The broadest program for measuring 226Ra in the United States has
been developing under the guidance of the Environmental Protection
Agency. The intent has been to analyze the radioactivity in every
municipal supply in the country. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act
(Public Law 93-523) supplies are to be screened for total alpha activity.
If this is above 5 pCi/l, 226Fbis to be determined and if the latter is
above 3 pCi/l, then 228Rais to be measured. Most of the samples pass
the total alpha requirement so no radiochemical analyses are required.
Thus the program is not helpful in developing an average population
exposure, although it does point out areas with elevated exposure. The
analyses for this program are being performed by the states and a full
report has not yet been published. Cothern et al., (1981) summarized
the situation by noting that 400 to 800 public water supplies out of
about 60,000 measured exceed 5 pCi/l for 226Ra.
Measurements of 226Fhin water were made in connection with diet
studies for 3 cities using surface water supplies, New York (0.006
pCi/l), San Francisco (0.008 pCi/l) and San Juan (0.006 pCi/l) as
reported by Fisenne and Keller (1970) and Hallden and Harley (1964).
Emrich and Lucas (1963) measured 28 surface water sources in Illinois
and reported a mean concentration of 0.04 pCi/l. Thus the ingestion
of water from surface supplies would contribute little to the normal
dietary intake of a few pCi/day. About three-fourths of the population
uses surface water supplies in the United States (Durfer and Becker,
1962).
Some other surveys had a broader aim. Perhaps the first was that
of Hursh (1953) who analyzed samples from 35 cities and found a
 6.2 RADIUM / 49
mean of 0.03 pCi/l. The high value was 6.5 for Joliet, IL.Durfer and
Becker (1962)reported on the water supplies of the 100 largest cities
in the United States, noting that these served 60 million people. Only
Rockford, IL (2.5),Houston, TX (1.3)and Lubbock, TX (1.9)showed
concentrations greater than 1 pCi/l.
A few data are available for other countries. Muth et d., (1960)
reported on '%Ra in drinking water and showed values of 0.2 pCi/l for
7 tap waters, 0.4 for 4 river watere, 0.2 for 5 shallow wells and 13 for
3 deep wells in Germany. Miyake et al., (1964)reported 0.08 pCi/l for
'"Ra in 10 rivers in Japan. Asikainen and Kahlos (1980)found a mean
value of 0.1 pCi/l for tap waters in Finland. These were mostly from
surface sources-dug wells and springs averaged 0.2,while drilled wells
averaged 2.4 pCi/l with a maximum of 200.

TABU 6.2-Summary of radium-226 analyses of public water supplies, 1966. (Hickey

and campbell, I&%.)
Number Total Supplies with >3pCi/l of
of water population =Ra Highest
State
supplies served- 1963
Ra
Population (pCi/l)
analyzed (thousands) Number

Alaska 5 10 0 0 0.1
Arizona 41 242 0 0 2.0
Arkansas 42 178 0 0 1.4

Colorado 43 . 107 4 3 15.7

Hawaii 17 428 1 16 8.9
Kansas 92 287 2 1 5.0

Louisiana 44 300 1 9 4.0

Maine 25 74 0 0 0.3
Michigan 8 115 0 0 0.9

Minnesota 64 304 13 46 24.1

Missouri 67 175 5 18 8.7
Nebraska 79 226 2 10 3.8

New Hampshire 19 80 0 0 2.5

New Mexico 30 24 1 0 0 2.3
North Dakota 33 61 0 0 0.7

Oklahoma 67 203 3 7 10.3

South Dakota 42 89 5 12 6.9
Texan 97 540 5 23 9.7

Utah 58 143 0 0 0.9

Wyoming 18 84 0 0 0.8

Total 891 3,864 41 144

50 1 6. DRINKING WATER

6.2.2 Elevated Exposures.

Ground water supplies may range up to 100pCi/l of 226Rafor potable
waters. Many of the studies performed were designed to seek out high
values. For example, Edgar (1963) found total radium concentrations
of >3 pCi/l in the 11 wells he selected in the Savannah River area.
Smith et al. (1961) measured 226Rain 85 wells in Maine and New
Hampshire, reporting means of 65 and 5 pCi/l, respectively. Hickey
and Campbell (1968) tried to identify population groups consuming
water that contained >3 pCi/l of "'Ra. Twenty states were selected
and about 1000 supplies using untreated ground water were measured.
The results are shown in Table 6.2. Emrich and Lucas (1963) sum-
marized some of the earlier data and presented new measurements for
Illinois. Their paper was oriented toward characterizing geologic for-
mations and aquifers, but the data are of interest for our purposes-
showing a range of 0.5 to 100 pCi/l for active wells.
Mineral water springs are also expected to show high activity. Remy
and Pellerin (1968) tested the 250 principal sources in France and
found that 77 had 226Racontents >5 pCi/l.
The U.S. Geological Survey carried out a study in Sarasota County,
FL (Sutcliffe and Miller, 1981). They reported on 200 samples from
92 wells. Radium-226 was measured in 161 of the samples and half of
these showed concentrations >5 pCi/l with a maximum of 110 pCi/l.
Very few samples showed less than 1 pCi/l.

6.2.3 Enhanced Exposures.

Kaufmann and Bliss (1977) studied the effects of both phosphate
mineralization and the phosphate industry on the ground water in
Central Florida. They found a range of 1 to 15 pCi/l for the geometric
means for various areas, but could see no evidence of contamination
by the industry. The report cautions, however, that continuing moni-
toring and review are necessary. The maximum of 15 pCi/l was found
in Sarasota County, which is almost completely outside the mineral-
ized area. Other parts of the state having no phosphate deposits showed
a mean of 1 pCi/l in the ground water, which the authors compared
with a national geometric mean, calculated from available data, of
0.15 pCi/l.
The Polk County (Florida) Health Department (Keaton et al., 1981)
surveyed 325 wells, about 113within the area of the phosphate deposits
and 213 outside. About 6% of the wells inside and 20% of those outside
had 226Racontentg greater than 3 pCi/l. The authors concluded that
the higher levels are a natural phenomenon, although local contami-
nation of the shallow aquifer is still possible. It was notable that,
 6.2 RADIUM / 51
unlike other areas, the shallow wells tended to have higher concentra-
tions than the deep wells.
The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services
(DHRS,1981) surveyed about 50 private wells in each of 7 counties
where there were shallow phosphate deposits of the Hawthorne for-
mation. Polk County was not covered as it was the subject of the
survey discussed in the preceding paragraph. The private wells tend
to be shallower than public or municipal wells and from 4 to 30% of
the wells in different counties exceeded total radium concentrations
of 5 pCi/l. For the wells requiring 226Raanalysis (total alpha activity
>10 pCi/l), private wells averaged 7 pCi/l, while the public wells had
averaged 4.5 pCi/l. Also, the northern Florida counties showed lower
concentrations than those in the central part of the state.
Kaufmann et al., (1976) reviewed uranium operations in the Grants
mineral belt of New Mexico. No effect on the 226Racontent of the
water could be shown. In this case, however, both the private and
municipal wells were generally below 1 pCi/l of 226Ra.
Myers and Stewart (1979) reported on the Elliot Lake mining area
in Ontario. The 226Rain waters from adjacent drainage basins was in
the range of 1-2 pCi/l, but the municipal supply for the town of Elliot
Lake was only 0.4 to 0.6 pCi/l.
The Animas River incident mentioned under uranium is the only
documented case of long-term contamination of a water supply by
uranium processing operations. Before 1959, effluents from the Dur-
ango, CO mill were discharged to the river. It is estimated that the
liquid wastes contained 0.2 mCi/d of dissolved and 30 mCi/d of
suspended 226Ra.Measurements by the Public Health Service showed
13 pCi/l in river water a t the mill and 3 pCi/l at a distance of 100 km
downstream. These values may be compared with analyses showing
0.3-0.6 pCi/l upstream. Measurements reported in 1972 showed no
measurable water contamination (EPA, 1972) but the change with
time was not fully documented.

6.2.4 Radiation Doses.

Radium-226 in drinking water is at low concentrations in surface
waters, which supply about 314 of the population. No definite increases
appear in areas where enhanced levels might be expected but elevated
natural levels do exist in the water supplies for large numbers of
people. If the fractional uptake from water is higher than that from
foods, then intake with water would be the controlling factor in these
areas (Lucas, 1960). Therefore, there should be many thousands of
people with several times the body burden of people from areas using
surface waters and where intake is controlled by foods. The dose
52 / 6. DRINKING WATER

equivalent rate to bone surfaces for these people from 226Raand

its retained daughters would be over 100 mrem/y compared to
10 mrem/y estimated in Section 7 for average background areas. This
could be confirmed by analysis of autopsy bone specimens from these
areas.

6.3 Radon in Drinking Water

6.3.1 Average Natural Exposure.
Radon in water may expose populations through ingestion in drink-
ing water or by the contribution of domestic water usage to indoor
radon concentrations. The latter contribution has been described in
Section 5. There have been many measurements of high radon levels
in water, made either in seeking out high exposures or in looking at
special water sources such as spas and springs with high levels of
radionuclides. On the other hand, there have not been any broad
surveys designed to develop an average exposure picture for a sizeable
population group.
Certain generalizations may be made. Rainwater is low as it has
little time in the lower troposphere-the region of highest atmospheric
concentration-to absorb radon. Surface waters also exhibit low con-
centrations, most of the radon originally present having transferred
to the atmosphere. Ground water and well water concentrations de-
pend on the type of rock involved in the aquifer. Acidic rocks such as
granite usually contain more radium and produce higher radon con-
centrations, while basic rocks, limestone and sandstone tend to pro-
duce lower concentrations. It is worth noting here that there is no
correlation between the concentrations of radium and of radon in
waters.
Radon will decay on storage, although this is seldom a factor in
water supplies. The major removal occurs if the water supply is aerated
as a purification process. Heating, and particularly boiling, of water
in open vessels transfers the radon to the atmosphere so any ingestion
exposure must result from direct water consumption and not from hot
beverages or the water used in cooking.
No estimate of average ingestion exposure is made here, due to lack
of information, but it is definitely small compared to the other radio-
nuclides.
6.3.2 Elevated Exposures.
A number of surveys in individual states demonstrate high values
and some of these have also quoted radon levels for "normalwareas in
the state. Some of the data are listed in Table 6.3. Hess et al., (1980)
showed that the average radon content of deep wells in northern New
England was a function of the bedrock. Granite areas gave a mean of
 6.3 RADON IN DRINKING WATER / 53
TABLE
6.3-Radon concentratwns in water
Location Number of sources Mean pCi/l (range) Reference
Maine 128 Drilled wells 88oW (2OOO-W,000) (a)
76 Dug wells 8OW (0-32,000)
Central Florida 80 Ground water 3000 (20-47.000) (b)
North Carolina 210 Wells 2700 ( -46,000) (c)
Nova Scotia 11 Drilled wells 170000 (43,000-370,000) (d)
Finland 39 Drilled wells 17000 ( -1,200,000) (4
625 Dug wells/springs
- - 16000 ( -44,000)
Sweden 172 Wells 500 ( -3,600) (0
References
(a) Smith et al, 1961.
(b) DHRS, 1981-quoting earlier work.
(c) Sasser and Watson, 1978.
(d) McGregor and Gourgon, 1980.
(e) Asikainen and Kahlos, 1980.
( 0 UNSCEAR, 1982.

24,000 pCi/l, sillimanite 18,000 and chlorite 1,300.

It is apparent that there is a considerable range of exposures and,
even given a particular source, the actual ingestion exposure of the
population group will depend on many factors which control whether
or not the water actually contains the radon when taken in.
6.3.3 Exhunced Exposures.
There are some areas in North America where the concentration of
radon in drinking water may have been enhanced by human activities.
This is not as likely to affect drinking water as the longer-lived
radionuclides since mine, mill and plant effluents are not directly
potable and, by the time these waters can enter domestic supplies, the
radon will have decayed. Enhanced exposures are not considered
further.
6.3.4 Radiation Doses.
Suomela and Kahlos (1972) estimated the relevant doses from
ingested radon based on a series of measurements on human subjects.
They derived an alpha dose equivalent range of 240-440 mrem to the
stomach per microcurie of ingested 222Rn,using a quality factor of 10.
This is in line with calculated values obtained by others. The authors
considered the intake of unboiled water to be from 300 to 1200 ml/d.
An earlier estimate of von Dobeln and Lindell (1964) also included a
whole-body dose equivalent factor of 4 mrem per microcurie of ingested
radon (this value was given in their paper as 2 mrem, using a quality
factor of lo), with the stomach receiving about 100 times more. The
whole-body dose is considered to be more pertinent for our purposes.
The range of radon concentrations in Table 6.3 can be converted to
whole-body dose equivalents if we assume an intake-say 0.5 1 of
54 / 6. DRINKING WATER

unboiled water a day. As an example, the mean value for Central

Florida (3000 pCi/l) would give a whole-body dose equivalent rate of
2 mrem/y.
6.4 Lead-210 and Polonium-210 in Drinking Water
In the group containing 'lOPb,2'%i and 210Po,the first two are beta
emitters and contribute only about 10% of the dose from the group to
any organ. The 210Pbis important, however, since its 22-year half-life
controls much of the group's environmental behavior. The 'loPo alpha
emission delivers most of the dose equivalent and the polonium is
sufficiently long-lived to redistribute in the body after formation.
6.4.1 Average Natural Exposure.
The major source of 2L0Pband its daughters in the environment is
from the decay of atmospheric radon. While the majority of the global
radon decays in the soil or soil air, this material is not as available to
the biosphere as is the natural fallout of "OPb. The typical 'lOPb
content of rain is 3 pCi/l in the Northern Hemisphere, with the Po/
Pb ratio being 0.1 to 0.5. Some of the radionuclides in rainfall are
absorbed in soil and the like, since surface waters usually contain less
than 0.1 pCi/l. UNSCEAR (1977) states that well water could ap-
proach the same concentrations as rain but gives no data. They also
indicate that drinking water contributes only a few percent to the
dietary intake.
Holtzman (1964) presented the largest body of data for 'lOPb and
21"0 in water. Eighteen treated supplies showed 0.02f 0.01 pCi/l while
4 raw waters showed 0.13~k0.05pCi/l of 210Pb.Twenty-five untreated
well supplies showed 0.05f 0.04 pCi/l for 210Pband 0.02+0.03 pCi/l for
21"P~. He concluded that water was not an important source for these
radionuclides. For comparison, the 226Racontent of the wells was 5
pCi/l and the 222Rncontent about 100 pCi/l.
Bogen et aL, (1976) reported a dietary intake of 210Pbof 1.2 pCi/d
for New York City with the water making only a small contribution
at 0.04 pCi/l. Similar, but higher data were reported by UNSCEAR
(1977) with the further indication that the dietary ratio of Po/Pb is
close to unity in ordinary circumstances.
6.4.2 Elevated Exposures.
No elevated exposures to 210Pbor 2 1 0 P ~ been reported for the
have
United States. UNSCEAR (1977) summarized data for the Lapps in
Finland and for the Japanese with a high intake of seafood. The
former derive their 210Pband 'loPo from the lichen-reindeer-human
chain and have intakes an order of magnitude higher than usual. It is
to be expected that the Eskimos of Canada and the United States
 6.6 SUMMARY / 55
would have exposures similar to those of the Lapps. Elevated dietary
intake of 'lOPb and 2 1 0 Pis~discussed in Section 7.
In none of these cases is water a real contributor to intake. It would
appear that finding noteworthy elevated concentrations of these ra-
dionuclides in water is a remote possibility.
6.4.3 Enhanced Exposures.
Lead2'' and 210Pohave not been measured in effluents to any degree
and their possible contaminating effects cannot be evaluated directly.
McDowell et al., (1979) reviewed the models for transport of 226Raand
210
Pb to humans and predicted that the 50-year dose equivalent com-
mitments per microcurie released would be the same within a factor
of two. Thus the significance of industrial operations on 'lOPb and
"OPo contamination of water supplies is indeterminate.

6.4.4 Radiation Doses.

The alpha dose equivalent rate estimates for normal dietary intake
of 'lOPb and 210Poare given in section 7 as 50 mrem/y to bone surfaces.
As mentioned earlier, 90% of the dose comes from the alpha emission
of the 210Po.Water intake gives only a few percent of the dose for
normal exposures.

6.5 Remedial Action

Techniques are available for reducing the concentrations of mem-

bers of the uranium series in drinking water. In municipal supply
systems, aeration will remove radon and alum treatment with floccu-
lation and filtration will decrease the heavy metal concentrations.
Uranium present as an anionic complex is a possible exception. In the
home, water softeners would have the same effect on the heavy metals.
The preferred alternative to water treatment is the use of other
supplies, if available.

6.6 Summary

In all cases, the contribution of drinking water to the total intake

for members of the uranium series is small for average background
conditions. This is particularly true for surface supplies which furnish
water to most of the population. For elevated and enhanced exposures,
the water intake of 226Rais of some interest, but the increase of dose
equivalent rate to bone surfaces is less than 100 mrem/y for forseeable
conditions.
7. Dietary Intake and Body
Content

7.1 Introduction

The members of the uranium series found in the body that arise
primarily from dietary intake are 238U, 234U, 226Raand 'lOPb. Lead-
210, the predominant series radionuclide in the body, decays to the
alpha emitter 210Po,while the others are alpha emitters themselves.
While 'I0Pb primarily enters the body through diet, inhalation must
also be considered, especially in smokers. The primary site of deposi-
tion for these nuclides is the skeleton and the dose t~ bone is the
critical factor.
Most other naturally-occurring alpha emitters that appear in the
diet and that have long enough half-lives to deliver a significant dose
to tissues are poorly absorbed from the gut. For example, the adopted
value (ICRP, 1979) of gut uptake for thorium is 2 x as compared
with about 0.2 for 226Raand *lOPb.Measurements of naturally-occur-
ring 232Thin the skeleton confirm this low uptake (Lucas et al., 19701,
the majority of the body 232Tharising through inhalation (Harley and
Pasternack, 1979). Radium-228 follows the same uptake pattern as
226Raand some data on this radionuclide are included in this chapter
for comparison.
Extensive worldwide measurements of uranium series radionuclides
in the diet are not available. The data that exist on the skeletal content
of uranium and radium in different countries are perhaps the best
information for inferring the effect of variation in normal diet. These
skeletal contents appear to vary by about a factor of 10 in locations
where no significant elevated sources are suspected. This most prob-
ably reflects variation in individual dietary and water intakes. Includ-
ing areas of elevated or enhanced radioactivity could increase this
variability to a factor of 100.
In this section, the average background, elevated natural and en-
hanced dietary intakes of the uranium series radionuclides are dis-
cussed. Human skeletal levels and consequent alpha doses are sum-
marized.
 7.2 NATURAL URANIUM (-U) 1 57
7.2 Natural Uranium (2s8.2S4U)

7.2.1 Average Background Levels of Uranium,

Measurement of normal levels of dietary 2=234U
indicate that they
are about 0.3 to 0.5 pCi/d for each isotope, which is 0.9 to 1.5
microgram of natural uranium per day (Welford and Baird, 1967).
The isotopic measurements that have been performed on skeletal ash
(Fisenne et al., 1981b) indicate radioactive equilibrium between 238U
and 234U,so equilibrium in the normal diet can be inferred. Welford
and Baird (1967) measured 19 individual food categories in a typical
diet sampled in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. These results
are shown in Table 7.1 and will be considered as baseline values.

TABLE
7.1-Measured uranium intake with 19 food categories in the United States'.
Food Micmgmma uraniumly
Food category intake New York San
kg/~ Citv
.-- Francium

Bakery products 44 66 58 58
Whole grain products 11 16 16 16
Egs~ 15 3.4 3.4 3.4
Freeh vegetables 48 25 25 44

Root vegetables 10 12 9.4 12

Dairy producte 200 16 31 62
Poultry 20 2.7 8.4 5.6
Fresh fish 8 3.4 6.8 4.5

Flour
Macaroni
Rice
Meat

Shellfish
Dried beam
Fresh fruit
Potatoes

Canned fruit 22 4.2 6.4 4.0

Fruit juices 28 1.1 1.1 3.4
Canned vegetables 22 4.0 2.0 4.0
Annual Intake
(micrograms) 464 523 462

Daily intake
(micromameldav)
'Data from Welford and Baird (1967).
58 / 7 . DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT

Although soil was not measured in this study, the produce measured
is thought to be associated with soil containing average background
levels of uranium, that is 1.8 micrograms/g, or 0.6 pCi of 238U/g
(NCRP, 1975). The mean dietary intake was 1.3 micrograms of ura-
nium, or about 0.4 pCi of '%U, per day.

7.2.2 Eleuated and Enhanced Levels of Uranium.

Tracy et al., (1982) measured uranium in garden produce grown in
soil in Port Hope, Ontario, a location that has been contaminated
with uranium tailings. The soil concentration in a "low" contamination
area averaged about 33 micrograms of uranium per gram of soil
compared with average background values of about 2 micrograms per
gram (Fisenne et al., 1978). Uranium concentrations in 11 types of
root and leafy vegetables grown in this soil were factors of 10 to 20
higher than for normal soil. Tracy et al., (1982) also reported mean
vegetable concentrations for several different soil uranium levels and
found a direct linear relationship. A 100-fold increase in soil uranium
resulted in about a 100-fold increase in the uranium content of the
vegetation. They calculated an average uptake coefficient for uranium
of 8 x micrograms/kg fresh weight per microgram/kg dry soil.
This value is lower than the factor observed for the average background
levels described above and additional data are required to resolve the
difference. The average background soil concentration of about 1.8
micrograms/g gives uranium concentrations in vegetable foods of
about 1 microgram/kg. This gives an uptake factor of 6 x For
the present report, the 8 x value will be used, since the other

TABLE 7.2-Daily radionuclide intake from standard diets in the U. S. (Adapted from
Holtzman. 1980.)
City Year "'PO Calcium
(approx) pCi/day g/hy
New York, NY 1966 1.1
1968 1.0
1963
1970
1972-3
Infant 1965
San Francisco, C A 1966
1968
Infant 1965
Chicago, IL 1963
Infant 1965
San Juan. P R 1963
figure does not come from vegetation and soil that are definitely
linked.
Uptake by vegetables from soil is dependent upon many factors
including soil pH and the concentrations of stable nutrient ions (Scott-
Russell, 1966).The direct relationship of soil concentration and uptake
should probably hold for most agricultural areas where food is pro-
duced for large-scale consumption, since soil conditions are controlled
within broad limits. Under these circumstances, and especially if the
mean of a variety of vegetables is considered, the linear relationship
should be a reasonably accurate predictor of levels in vegetation.

7.3.1 Average Background Levels of 226Ra.

Radium-226 in the diet has been more widely studied than any other
natural alpha emitter. The first report of 226Rain food appeared in
1929 (Burkser et al., 1929) and their results are in good agreement
with present data. Holtzman (1980) has summarized both dietary
226Raand 228Rafor the United States and these values are shown in
Table 7.2.
Although 228Rais a beta emitter, its daughter 228This an alpha
emitter which is retained in the skeleton. Few dietary data exist, but
in areas with average background levels of the uranium and thorium
series, the 226Raf28Ra activity ratio in diet is near unity (Petrow et
al., 1965).
One comprehensive study of 226Rain diet that is included in Table
7.3 is that of Fisenne and Keller (1970). They measured 19 individual
food categories to obtain normal daily intakes for New York City and
San Francisco. The concentrations measured are shown in Table 7.3
and will be considered baseline values.
Holtzman (1980) also summarized worldwide 226Rameasurements
and these are shown in Table 7.4. In areas where no unusual conditions
exist, the average 226Raintake can be considered to be about 1 pCi/
day.

7.3.2 Elevated and Enhanced Levels of 226Ra

Certain selected foods offer the potential for elevated 226Raintake
if they are consumed in quantity. Van Middlesworth (1980) and
Wogman et al., (1977), for example, measured 0.5 to 25 pCi/g in cattle
60 / 7. DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT

thyroids. These are eaten as a delicacy in some areas. Brazil nuts

are also known to contain elevated levels of '26Ra and values up to
3 pCi/g have been reported (Turner et al., 1958). Individual odd items
such as these are unlikely to cause a major change in dietary intake.
Tracy et al., (1982) measured n6Ra in 11 types of root and leafy
vegetables grown on soil contaminated with uranium tailings in Port
Hope, Ontario. Data from a "lown contamination area showed a
measured soil concentration of 12 pCi 226Ra/gcompared with an
average background level of 2.5 for the region. Based on their analyses,
they calculated an average uptake coefficient of 1 x pCi/kg fresh
weight per pCi/kg dry soil. As in the case of uranium, they found a

TABLE7.3-Measured -Ra and 2'0Pb intakes with 19 food categories in the United
States.
Food pCi/JT =Ra pCi/$ "Tb
Food cntegory intake New York San New York
kg/y City Francisco City
Bakery producta 44 101 62 78
Whole grain producte 11 28 24 24
Eggs 15 150 27 3.9
Fresh vegetables 48 53 32 52

Root vegetables 10 13 14 2.1

Dairy products 200 50 18 58
Poultry 20 8.8 8.2 9.0
Fresh fish 8 7.1 2.1 3.1

Flour
Macaroni
Rice
Meat

Shellfish
Dried beans
Fresh fruit
Potatoes

Canned fruit 22 1.8 4.8 22

h i t juices 28 18 16 6.4
Canned vegetables 22 15 7.9 9.7

Annual intake
(picocuries)

Daily intake
(pieocuries/day) 1.7 0.8 1.2
'From Fisenne and Keller (1970).
From M o m and Welford (1971).
linear relationship between 226Raconcentrations in vegetation and
soil.
If we consider that the average background soil contains from 0.5
to 1 pCi 226Ra/g (NCRP,1975), the above value for the uptake
coefficient would predict a level of 0.5 to 1 pCi/kg for fresh vegetables.
This is in good agreement with the individual measured values in
Table 7.3.

7.4.1 Average Background Levels of 210Pb.

Holtzman (1980) has summarized worldwide measurements of "OPb
dietary intake and his compilation is shown in Table 7.4. Values range
from 1.4 to 40 pCi/d. Lead-210 is not an alpha emitter, but the 210Po
daughter decays by emission of a 5.3 MeV alpha particle. Polonium-
210 is also present in the diet (normally to about the same extent as
''OPb) and its fractional uptake from food is thought to be similar to

TABLE 7.4-Compilation of dady intake of &nuclides.

(Adapted from Hdtzmw 1980).
Country City or region Year -Ra "OPb 'loPo Calcium
(appmr) pCiIday pCVday pcilday g/day
United States 1963-77 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.0
United Kingdom 1963 1.2
1466 3.2'
Germany 1959 3
1965 4.6 4.6
USSR Central Asla 1965 7.9
Leningrad 1968 2.8
Romtov-on-Don 1973 6.2 4.0
Cmhdovakia Southern Bohemia 1977 3
Italy Varene 1970 1.4 0.5
Bulgaria 1975 I.€-21
France 1.0-1.4
Belgium B ~ s a e l (teen--)
s 1965 1.2 1.1
Netherlande %it 1966 2.0
Argentina Buenos A i m 1971 0.70 0.77
1972 1.3
Brazil Rio de Janeim 1972 3
Japan Entire Country 1968 17
India Bombay 1966 0.72
1976 1.65
Special area8
Canada Arctic dwellers 1967 100
Finland Arctic dwellers 1966 8.6 69
Alaska Arctic dwellers 1966
300 g/d caribou 10 100
500 g/d caribou 60
1963 2 10 100
USSR Arctic dwellers 1972 40' 40.
India Monazitearea 1966 2.85
Brazil Monazite area 1970 10-120
From excreta meaaurementu.
62 / 7. DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT

the factor of about 0.2 found for 210Pb(Bernard, 1979). The short half-
life of 210Po(138 d) relative to that of 210Pb(22 y), as well as its short
biological half-life of 50 days (Bernard, 1979), makes the 210Pbin the
body the most important source of 'loPo under normal conditions. The
"OPo remains in the skeleton long enough to produce the highest
skeletal dose of any natural radionuclide under conditions of average
background exposure.
Morse and Welford (1971) measured 210Pbin 19 different food
categories for New York City and the individual values are shown in
Table 7.3. The daily intake of 210Pbthat they estimated was 1.2 pCi.
Spencer et al., (1977) measured 2'0Pb and 210Poin institutional diets
in Chicago and found intakes of 1.3 and 1.6 pCi/d, respectively.

7.4.2 Elevated and Enhanced ~ e v e lofs "OPb.

Although the origin of most of the 210Poin the body is normally
through ingestion of 210Pb,some special diets must be considered. It
is well-known that high concentrations of 'loPo exist in the edible
portions of many aquatic organisms, and the Po/Pb ratio has been
measured as greater than unity (Cherry and Shannon, 1974). The
concentration of "'Po in the edible portion of fish was measured as
approximately 20 pCi/kg of dry tissue (very roughly, 4 pCi/kg wet),
with a Po/Pb ratio of about 4 (Parfenov, 1974). The 210Poconcentra-
tions in Mollusca are normally higher than in fish and attain about
the same levels as the diatoms and phytoplankton upon which they
feed. Polonium-210 levels ranging from 200 to 1000 pCi/kg wet weight
have been reported in Mollusca (Hill, 1965; Beasley et aL, 1969;
Holtzman, 1967; Kauranen and Miettinen, 1970). Beasley et al. (1969)
reported 140 pCi/kg wet in prawns and Hill (1965) measured up to
1400 pCi/kg wet in crabs. Diets high in seafood are thus able to
introduce substantial quantities of 'loPo into the body.
UNSCEAR (1977) has reviewed the elevated 'loPo intake of tens of
thousands of Lapps and Eskimos that consume reindeer and caribou
in the arctic and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere. The
animals consume 3 to 4 kg of lichens per day. Lichens are a combi-
nation of a fungus and an alga living in a symbiotic relationship and
their large surface area accumulates the natural fallout of both 'lOPb
and 210Po.Levels of 7000-9000 pCi/kg were listed for lichens in the
UNSCEAR summary. Reindeer and caribou meat from northern Can-
ada, Alaska and Lapland (Finland, Sweden and the USSR)average 20
pCi/kg and 200 pCi/kg for "OPb and 'loPo, respectively. The animal
livers, consumed in some areas, are considerably higher in concentra-
tion.
 7.5 URANIUM, RADIUM AND LEAD IN HUMAN TISSUES / 63
Tracy et al., (1982) measured 'lOPb in 11 varieties of root and leafy
vegetables grown in Port Hope, Ontario. The soil was known to be
contaminated with uranium tailings and contained 9 pCi of 'lOPb/g
compared with average background levels of 1 to 3 pCi/g (NCRP,
1975). They calculated an average uptake coefficient of 4 x pCi/
kg fresh weight per pCi/kg dry soil. As with uranium and 226Ra, they
found a linear relationship of 'lOPb contamination in vegetation with
soil concentration. Using their uptake coefficient and the value of 1-
3 pCi 210Pbin average soil (Fisenne et al., 1978) yields a value of 0.4
to 1 pCi/kg for fresh vegetables, in reasonable agreement with the
reported levels in Table 7.3.

7.4.3 Elevated levels of 'lOPbfrom Cigarette Smoking.

The content of 210Pband 'loPo in cigarette tobacco is well-known
(Tso et al., 1964, 1966a. 1966b; Harley et al., 1978). The total 'loPo in
human lung due to normal dietary intake and inhalation is about 3
pCi. This is increased by a factor of 3 as a direct result of inhalation
of 'lOPb and 'loPo in cigarette smoke (Cohen et al., 1979; Parfenov,
1974). Holtzman and Ilcewicz (1966) measured skeletal tissue of smok-
ers and non-smokers with the results shown in Table 7.5.
The higher values in smokers result from translocation of 'lOPb
deposited in lung to the skeleton. The two-fold difference indicates
that smoking is .a significant source of 'lOPb in the body. No data are
available on inhalation of side-stream smoke by non-smokers.

7.5 Uranium. Radium and Lead in Human Tissues

The majority of the uranium, radium and lead found in the human
body resides in the skeleton. Some data exist for other organs and
these are mentioned in the following sections, but the emphasis is on
the skeletal data.

7.5.1 Uranium in Human Tissues.

Few measurements have been made on the uranium content of
human tissues. These are summarized in Table 7.6. The difference
among locations, for example the 7 pCi 238U/kg ash in the total
skeleton for the U. K. (Hamilton, 1972) compared with 1.2 for Aus-
tralia undoubtedly represents a difference in dietary intake.
64 / 7. DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT

TABLE
7.5-Skeletal l'OPband "OPo in smokers and nonsmokers.
%'a "OPo Po/Pb
(pCi/g ash) (pCi/g aeh) Ratio
Smokers 0.285 + .025 0.25 & .04 0.87 + .10
Non-smokere 0.135 f ,016 0.09 f .0% 0.62 f .14

7.5.2 Radium in Human Tissues.

Greater than 90% of the body radium content is thought to reside
in the skeleton (Schlencker et ad., 1982). The published values for
226Rain human bone were summarized by Fisenne et al., (1981a). The
means of the measured values for 26 countries give a median value of
0.03 pCi/g Ca. The 26 nations sampled represent 35% of the world
population. The cumulative frequency distribution of the fCi 226Ra/g
Ca in bone against the cumulative population probability (percentage
of the world population) is shown in Figure 7.1. The median for the
population distribution is 0.023 pCi/g Ca with a geometric standard
deviation of 1.6. The tange by country is 0.008 to 0.10 pCi/g Ca,
presumably representing the differences in their "normal" dietary
intakes.
Assuming.1000 g of calcium in the human skeletoh, the total skeletal
content would range from 8 to 100pCi for the different countries with
a global population median of 23 pCi.
TABLE
7.6-Memud in h u m tissue samples. Soft tiesue values in pCi %/kg
wet weight, bone valuea in pCi =U/kg ash. (number of samples).
Skeleton
of bow Blood Fat Mlreclc Lung Liver Kidney Ref.
U.S. 0.8 0.17 0.07 0.14 a
(63) (27) (27) (12)
vertebrae
U.K. 0.28 b
(21)
7 0.20 0.06 0.0s c
(63) (2) (8) (2)
Skull, rib.
femur, vertebra
Australia 1.2 d
(8)
Crania, rib
femur, vertebra
Nepal 5 d
(9)
vertebra
References
Welford et al.. (1976).
Hamilton (1970).
'Hamilton (1972).
F i n n e et a1 (1881b).
 7.6 SKELETAL DOSE FROM ALPHA IRRADIATION / 65
100 - r 1 I
ISRAfL

60 -
40 I
S
.-0 ma-,

3 *O- c u u o q m n c o .
m u . VMZUL. -

g.- 41
- -
-
U
2-

b.01QI 1.0 10 50 90 99 99.99

Cumulative Population Probnbil~ty
Figure 7.1. Geographic dietribution of measured mRa concentration in human
bone.

Radium-226 is sometimes considered to be analogous to calcium in

its uptake from diet. In the case of low dietary calcium, it is possible
that the fractional radium uptake could be higher than with the
"normal" 1 g Ca/d. The data for New York City and for Puerto Rico
(Hallden and Harley, 1964), Table 7.7, indicate that this is not the
case. Only in the case of severe calcium deficiency would higher ''%a
uptake be a consideration.

7.5.3 Lead-210in Human Tissues.

UNSCEAR (1977) has summarized the ""Pb measurements in
human bone ash from 10 countries. They found an average of 0.14
pCi/g ash with a range of 0.06 to 0.32. These values were reported
without regard to the smoking history of the individuals included in
the averages and so do not necessarily represent only dietary differ-
ences. Assuming 0.37 g Ca/g bone ash and a calcium content of 1000
g in the skeleton, this corresponds to a mean of 380 pCi ""Pb in the
total skeleton with a range of 160 to 860.
Blanchard and Moore (1970) found 0.3 and 0.2 pCi/g ash respec-
tively for 'lOPband 21"Poin one Alaskan whose diet contained caribou
meat. This is about a factor of 2 higher than the data for "normal"
areas.
7.6 Skeletal Dose from Alpha Irradiation
Harley and Pasternack (1976) have reported dose factors for the
absorbed alpha dose to cells lying close to bone surfaces. These are
thought to be the critical sites in the production of osteogenic sarcoma.
A summary of their factors is shown in Table 7.8. The factors are
66 / 7. DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT
TABLE
7.7-The relationship of dietary colcium levels with uptake of dietarymRa.
Dietary Dietary calcium Skeletal =Ra
(Pcilday) (glday) (pCilg Ca)
N e w York City 1.7 1.0 0.029
Puerto Rico 0.68 0.51 0.016

given for bone uniformly labelled with 23BU, 234U,22BRa(including %d

of its alpha-emitting daughters) and ''OPo. The alpha dose is calculated
at 1,10,20 and 40 micrometers from the bone surface. Osteoprogenitor
cells, which are the stem cells involved in accumulation (accretion)
and removal (resorption) of bone are located throughout adult bone
marrow but are more numerous near bone surfaces (Owen, 1980).
Lloyd (1981a) states that, "Approximately half of those (stem cells)
documented lay outside the 0 to 10 micrometer thickness commonly
used for calculation of relevant carcinogenic dose." From these consid-
erations, the absorbed dose a t 10 micrometers is taken in this report
to represent the relevant quantity.
The dose factors in Table 7.8 are used in combination with a few of
the average skeletal values for uranium, radium and lead discussed in
TABLE 7.8-Alpha bone dose factors for =Ra
- - clase to bone surfaces. Radionuclides
and "O PO to ceUr lying
-
assumed to be mixed homoaeneously throughout
- bone.
Radionuclide Distance mrad/y per pCi/g of
from bone surface wet. defatted
(micrometers) bone
mu 1 60
10 20
20 4.4
40 -

=Fte plus H of 1
daughters, in- 10
cluding Z'OPo. 20
40
 7.8 SUMMARY / 67
Section 7.5 to calculate an average annual absorbed alpha dose. The
skeletal content of each nuclide in pCi/g wet defatted bone is estimated
assuming 5000 g of wet defatted bone in the adult male skelr;ton, 1000
g Ca in the skeleton and 0.37 g Ca/g bone ash. The calculated skeletal
contents are given in Table 7.9.
The annual alpha dose for 238U,234Uranges from 0.01 to 0.07 mrad,
with the 0.01 value representing the United States. The dose rate from
226Raaverages about 0.5 mradly and that from the 'lOPb ( 2 1 0 Pabout
~)
2.5 mrad/y. If a quality factor of 20 is applied for alpha radiation, the
dose equivalent rates become 0.2, 10 and 50 mrem/y for uranium,
226Raand 210Pb(210Po), respectively. The 'lOPb (210Po)dose equivalent
rate to bone surfaces thus approximates the whole-body external dose
from terrestrial gamma and cosmic radiation of 54 mremly (NCRP,
1975).
It should be noted that the occupational limits for intake of soluble
natural uranium are controlled by the chemical toxicity of the element.
It is expected that any significant exposures to soluble uranium can
only come from areas of enhanced radioactivity under regulatory
control and this aspect of uranium toxicity will not be considered
further.
7.7 Lung Dose Due to Inhaled Lead-210 a n d Polonium-210
in Cigarette Smoke
Although other alpha emitters such as 232Thand 226Raare present
in cigarette tobacco (Joyet, 1971; Tso et al., 1966a and b), measure-
ments indicate that only 'lOPb and 210Poare transferred to cigarette
smoke (Cohen et al., 1980a).
In one study, the alpha activities on the tracheob~nchialmucosa
in fresh autopsy specimens from smokers, ex-smokers and non-smok-
ers were found to be 0.1, 0.08 and 0.02 fCi/cm2 (Cohen et d.,1980b).
The corresponding dose equivalent rates to shallow basal cells (22
micrometers below the surface of the bronchial epithelium are 12, 10
and 2 mrem/y). One elderly female smoker had a single area with an
elevated activity of 180 fCi/cm2 and a consequent dose of 20 rem/y, if
the activity remained at that spot. Measured 'lOPb and 210Poburdens
in the lower lung (parenchyma) of ex-smokers who had ceased smoking
3 to 5 years prior to death were found to be nearly equal to those in
current smokers, indicating that 'lOPb can be retained in this portion
of the lung for long times.
7.8 Summary
The average background dietary intakes for uranium, "'Ra and the
210Pb,21"P~combination have been presented. Measurements of con-
68 / 7. DIETARY INTAKE AND BODY CONTENT

TABLE
7.9-Absorbed alpha dose to cells on bone surfaces fmm average concentrations
of uranium, ne Ra andz1' P b in the human sheleton.
Skeleton Skeleton Alpha dose Reference for bone con-
total pCi PCilk~ mradlyenf tent
Uranium
U. K. Hamilton (1970)
New York City Welford et ai., (1976)
Nepal Fisenne el al., (1981b)
234U

Australia Fisenne et al., (1981b)

="u
Radium-226
u. S. Fisenne et al., (1981a)
"World" average F i n n e et al.,(1981a)
(26 countries)
Lead-zrob
U. S. (non-smokers) Holtzman end Ilcewicz
(1966)
"World" average UNSCEAR (1977)
(4 countries)
'Alpha dose ie that to cells 10 micrometers distant from the bone surface for bone
uniformly contaminated with the specified radionuclide. Assumes 5000 grams of wet,
defatted skeleton and that "U and are in equilibrium unless measured.
Assume ""Po is in equilibrium with the 'l~pb.

TABLE7.10-Absorbed dose rates and dose equivalent

rates to tk skeleton resulting from the ingestwn of a n
auerage diet for uranium. %Ra and ""Pb (1''Pol.
Absorbed dose Dose equivalent
rate imradlv) rate (mremlv)
Uranium 0.01 0.3
0.5 10
2'oPb(210Po) 2.5 50

centrations in vegetables grown on soil contaminated with various

levels of these radionuclides show that the uptake is linear with soil
concentration, and that the corresponding uptake factors may be used
to predict the levels in vegetation grown on a particular soil. These
factors are useful for predictive purposes but have not been used for
the dose estimates made in this section.
The uranium, radium and 2'0Po in the body reside in the skeleton,
and the significant dose is from alpha irradiation of cells near bone
surfaces. Typical absorbed dose rates and dose equivalent rates cal-
culated for measured skeletal concentrations arising from ingestion of
an average background diet containing 1.3 micrograms of uranium, 1.7
pCi of and 1.2 pCi of 'lOPb per day are given in Tables 7.10 and
8.3. Lead-210 is clearly the governing radionuclide that limits the
allowable intake of the uranium series.
8. Dose Summary

Previous chapters on the modes of exposure indicated the absorbed

dose rates that appear in normal and in elevated and enhanced
background situations. This chapter summarizes the data and presents
the relevant dose equivalent rates. The latter calculation uses a quality
factor of 20 to convert from rads to rems for alpha particle irradiation.
The values developed here are only approximations, since the data
are not always complete or in comparable forms. However, this is not
a serious drawback in indicating the magnitude of the situation.

8.1 Radon Daughters

Table 8.1 presents representative values for the indoor exposure

rates, absorbed dose rates and dose equivalent rates produced in
bronchial epithelium by the short-lived daughter products of radon.
The absorbed dose rates have been obtained on the basis that contin-
uous exposure to 1WL results in 50 WLM/y and that 1WLM equals
0.7 rad (Harley and Pasternack, 1982). The table entries have not
been rounded as severely as might be justified as they serve for further
calculations.

8.2 External Radiation

Table 8.2 lists the total dose rates from external gamma radiation.
The absorbed dose rates in air are for indoor exposure. The dose
equivalent rates are numerically equal to the absorbed dose rates in
tissue, except for a correction for shielding by the body itself. The
cosmic-ray component (about 28 mrem/y) is not included in the
tabulated values. As in Table 8.1, the entries are probably good to only
one significant figure.
69
70 1 8. DOSE SUMMARY

TABLE
8.1-Indoor absorbed dose rates and dose equivalent rates to the bronchial
epithelium from normal, elevated and enhanced levels of the short-bed dwghter
~roductsof *2Rn
Ex ure Absorbed dose rate Dose equivalent rate
(EL) (radly)' (remly)'
Auerage background
New York/New Jersey Median 0.004 0.14 3
Grand Junction Mean 0.004 0.14 3
Florida Mean 0.004 0.14 3
Canada' 4%> 0.02 0.7 14

Elevated
Florida
Montanab
Canadac

Enhanced
Grand Junction Mean 0.1 3.5 70
Florida 2%> 0.05 1.8 35
10% 0.03 1 20
Canada ' lo%> 0.02 0.7 14
10,000houses in 14 cities
179 houses in Butte
' 600 houses in two towns
houses on tailings
' 7000 houses in four towns
'Absorbed dose and dose equivalent rate8 are for the WL values shown.

TABLE 8.2-Indoor dose rates lo the whole body from e x t e r d

terrestrial narnma radiation.
Absorbed dose rate In air Doae equivalent rate
lmradlv)' (mremlv)'
Average Buckground
U. S. Average
Coastal Plain
Rocky Mountain Slopes

Elevated
Florida Phosphate Areao 5%> 50

Enhanced
Florida Phosphate Areab 33%> 50 40
7%> 120 100
Grand Junction I%> 400 320
Mineralized but unmined areas
Reclaimed land area
' Absorbed do* and dose equivalent rates are for gamma radiation only and do not
include the cosmic-ray contribution.
 8.4 SUMMARY / 71
8.3 Ingested Radionuclides

Table 8.3 lists the exposures and dose equivalent rates to bone
surfaces for normal background and for some projected levels that
might apply to ingested materials in areas of elevated or enhanced
natural activity. Subsistence farming in such areas is assumed, with
no dilution by national food supplies. The simplifying assumptions
are made that the dietary intake is directly proportional to local soil
content and that the uptake of 226Rafrom drinking water follows the
predictions of Lucas (1960). The soil levels were taken from the work
of Tracy et al., (1982) at Port Hope, Ontario. Water levels were taken
as representative values of elevated ground waters from section 6.

8.4 Summary

This section compared the dose equivalent rates .to relevant tissues
from exposure to normal background with those measured or projected
for exposure to elevated or enhanced levels. The information on radon
daughters and on external radiation is reasonably realistic, although
a larger amount of data would allow better estimates. The ingestion
exposures are overestimates for most of the population, being based
on subsistence farming without outside foods.
The dose equivalent rates to bronchial epithelium in the few percent

TABLE
8.3-Dose equivalent rates to bone surfaces from ingestion of members
of the uranium series.
intake (pCiId) Total skeletal Dose equivalent
Food Water eontent (pCi) raw (mremly)

Average Background
2ylU + 23IU 0.8 0.03-1' 4 0.3
2"Ra 1.7 0.01-0.2' 30 10
2'0Pb(2'oPo) 1.2 0.02 360 50

Rounded Total 60
Elevated or Enhanced
2"U + mu 20 10 150 10
'=Ra 15 10 400 150
2'0Pb(2'0Po) 10 Low 3000 400

Rounded Total 600

'The minimum figures apply to the skeletal contents shown, while the higher values
may be a better representation of average intake.
72 / 8. DOSE SUMMARY

of the population that are exposed to elevated or enhanced levels can

be an order of magnitude above those from normal background. The
dose equivalent rates to the whole body from external radiation in
elevated or enhanced areas do not exceed those from normal back-
ground by a large factor. Also, in this case, the higher doses are
received by only a small fraction of the population group involved
The dose equivalent rates to bone surfaces from ingestion are shown
in Table 8.3 as an order of magnitude higher for the elevated and
enhanced areas. This is probably a greater difference from average
levels than actually exists, but the difference cannot be evaluated until
dietary or bone data become available from some of the special areas.
The relative magnitude of the dose equivalent rates and the known
relative radiation sensitivities of lung, whole body and bone indicate
that the controlling factor in elevated or enhanced exposures is the
inhalation of the short-lived daughter products of radon.
 Basis for Recommendations

Three general methods for developing recommendations about levels

of exposure from the uranium series will be discussed. These involve:
1)selecting a level of risk that is appropriate for the exposure circum-
stances; 2) using previously established limits on radiation dose equiv-
alent; or 3) specifying levels on the basis of the distribution of radiation
exposures normally encountered from natural background radiation.
The preceding chapters have described some of the levels that exist
and some of the features that will affect the dose or risk to humans
from members of the uranium series.
Exposure limits developed in the past have applied to exposures
above natural background. From the data presented in this report, it
is apparent that background has considerable variability especially for
radon daughters. Thus it is difficult to establish a meaningful back-
ground for use in assessing elevated or enhanced exposures. In addi-
tion, some exposures to elevated natural background may be high
enough that remedial action is desirable. As a result, it seems appro-
priate to consider the total exposure, including background, in making
recommendations for individual members of the public.
This procedure should not interfere with the present system of
regulating potential increments in exposures around nuclear facilities
and other sources by controlling effluent releases. The resulting dose
increments are ordinarily estimated from release quantities using
accepted environmental and biological models without reference to
existing background. Thus the two systems, one addressing all existing
exposures regardless of the source and the other addressing exposure
increments from planned operations are independent.

9.1 Risk Approach

Selecting a level of risk that is appropriate for the circumstances

requires estimation of factors relating health effects to exposure as
well as judgements about the impacts of these levels on the population
concerned. In this section, we will estimate the risks associated with
73
74 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

various exposures and indicate levels of risk that are considered

acceptable in given circumstances.
In this report, only the carcinogenic risk of radiation is considered,
specifically the probability that a specified amount of radiation will
cause fatal cancer in some fraction of the people exposed. This may
be expressed as an annual or a lifetime mortality risk per unit of
radiation. For the purpose of making risk estimates, we have made the
following assumptions:
1. In the dose range of interest here, the probability that an indi-
vidual will develop radiation-induced cancer is a direct linear
function of the total dose.
2. The probability is independent of whether the dose is delivered
continuously, intermittently or in a single exposure.
3. The risk factors obtained at high doses and high dose rates are
valid down to doses and dose rates approaching average back-
ground levels' and there is no threshold for radiation effects.
It is recognized that these assumptions have uncertainties relating
to limitations on the data and their applicability at low dose levels.
It should be emphasized that calculated risks for radiation exposure
are not the same as the risks which actuaries cite to predict the number
of highway deaths over a holiday weekend or the number of homicides
expected in a particular city the following year. The latter risk esti-
mates are based on past experience with events of relatively high
incidence and definite attribution and no extrapolation is involved.
In the ideal case, for determining a risk factor for exposure to
radiation, two populations-identical except for the known radiation
exposure-would be followed from birth to death. In fact, none of the
populations being followed today are near closure (all participants
dead) and the total mortality must be estimated by projection into the
future. In addition, none of the possible effects from low level irradia-
tion have actually been observed and hence they must be estimated
by extrapolation from high dose exposures. For modelling lifetime
exposure effects, data from acute exposures mainly is available in the
case of external radiation, but in the case of radon daughters, data on
extended exposures over a working lifetime for miners is available.
There is presently some disagreement on the form of the models
used for the projection required to express risks over a lifetime, in
addition to the other uncertainties noted above.
The absolute risk model assumes that the risk of cancer mortality

' In the case of alpha radiation, this is strictly true, but for gamma radiation the
estimates are reduced by a factor of 2-2% between high and low doses.The resulting low
dose value is applicable for 10 rads and below.
 9.1 RISK APPROACH / 75
is only a function of the radiation dose received, while the relative risk
model assumes, in addition, that the risk is proportional to the natural
mortality in the population from the particular cancer. If the lifetime
risk were derivable as described for the ideal case above, a projection
would not be necessary, since the actual mortality by cause, age and
sex would be available for the two populations.
An example of the difference resulting from the two methods of
projection is that given in the calculations set out by the Committee
on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (NAS, 1980), where
their concensus model for total excess cancer mortality per million
people exposed t o 1 rem uniform whole body radiation gives 67 with
the absolute and 169 with the relative risk projection. The value for
low doses used by UNSCEAR (1977) and ICRP (1977a) and adopted
in this report is 100.
In the consideration of radon risks in this report, the extent of
future projection is rather minimal, because there has been more than
50% mortality in some of the miner populations. Furthermore, in-
creased lung cancer mortality has been found in groups of miners
exposed t o less than 100 WLM, which is less than 10 times the lifetime
background level of more than 10 WLM, and since the assumption of
linearity is believed t o be valid for alpha particles, the error in
considering low exposures should be small.
The NCRP will publish risk limits in a forthcoming report (NCRP,
1984a). For the public, an average risk level in the range of 10-6/y t o
10-5/y was considered by ICRP t o be one likely to be acceptable to
individuals (ICRP, 1977a). The specification that critical groups be
limited to 0.5 rem/y (risk = 0.5 x 10-4/y for somatic effects only) is
deemed by ICRP to be adequate to yield an average risk a t or below
the desired level.
It is necessary now to -consider separately the risk incurred as a
result of inhalation, external exposure and ingestion from components
of the uranium series.

9.1.1 Inhalation
The estimate of lifetime risk of lung cancer for a given exposure to
radon daughters, as used here, is based on the model of Harley and
Pasternack (1981). Their model includes a 5-year latent period, no
lung cancer appearing before age 40 and a 20-year half-time for an
apparent reduction in effect with time which may be attributable to
cellular repair or to some other cause. It is used in conjunction with a
life table to account for competing risks. The total epidemiological
76 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

experience of miners points to a risk of per WLM. Using this

value with the model gives a lifetime risk factor of 9100 lung cancer
deaths in one million people exposed to 1WLM/y from birth (NCRP,
1984a). The mortality estimates for various levels of exposure are
shown in Table 9.1. The annual risks are obtained by dividing the
lifetime risk by 45, the number of years over which lung cancer is
likely to be expressed, and thus 1 WLM/y corresponds to an annual
risk of 2 x 10-4/y.
The tabulated data also suggest that, because of the high incidence
of lung cancer, any incremental effects of environmental radiation
exposure would be difficult to detect epidemiologically. On the other
hand, the failure of the data of Letourneau and Wigle (1980) and
Letourneau et al (1983) to show any relationship between environ-
mental exposure and lung cancer incidence in Canadian cities indicates
that the risk from radon daughters cannot be appreciably higher than
has been estimated.
It is apparent that the model predicts a risk comparable with an
accepted occupational risk of 1 x 10-'/y (ICRP,1977a) at an exposure
of about 0.5 WLM/y. The average background exposure of 0.2
WLM/y derived in this report is associated with a risk of 4 x 10-5/y.
A risk of 10-~/ymight have been a reasonable choice (see above) in
considering a limit for the population but obviously it cannot be
approached in practice since it is equivalent to 0.05 WLM/y, only l/r
of the average background.

TABLE 9.1-Expected excess lung cancer mortality rates in individuals exposed to

various levels of radon daughters and a comparison with the observed lung cancer
mortulihr.
Radon daughter Lifetime risk Annual r W
Conditions Death per Deaths/y per
&EM"/; million exposed million exposed
Average background 0.2 1800 40
Possible limiting levels 0.5 4600 100
1.O 9100 200
2.0 lsooo 400
Occupational limit 4.0 36000 800
Observed mortality from Deaths per million
lung cancer in a Lifetimeb Annuar
U.S.population of
10 million
male
female
'After age 40.
Lifetime risk from Zdeb (1977),annual riak obtained by dividing by 45 years at risk.
 9.1 RISK APPROACH / 77
TABLE9.2-Probability of living to a given age with and without radon
daughter exposures.
,, 1975 L
ife
Tab'e' 0.2 WLM/y 1 WLMh
-
Exposure
2 WLM/y 5 WLM/y

'Vital statistics of the United States-1975 (NCHS, 1979).

Note: The life table necessarily includes lung cancer deaths from average
background levels of radon daughters. This is a small difference, as
indicated by the effect of an added 0.2 WLM/y shown in the table.

Another way of looking at the risk from radon daughters is to

consider the potential loss in life expectancy caused by exposure. This
is shown in Table 9.2, where the 1975 life table, or the probability that
a child born in 1975 will survive to a given age, is compared with the
probabilities calculated to include various lifetime exposures from
birth. This comparison should be less sensitive to smoking vs. non-
smoking habits, because the other causes of death outweigh those
caused by smoking.
The decrease in probability of living to any given age is apparent
from Table 9.2. Exposure at a level of 2 WLM/y would reduce the
probability of living to age 70 by 1.5% and exposure a t a level of 5
WLM/y for a lifetime would reduce the probability by about 4%.
Evidently, at the average background level of 0.2 WLM/y, the effect
on the probability of a given individual living to a given age is minimal.

9.1.2 External Exposure

The ICRP (1977a), UNSCEAR (1977) and the NCRP (1984b)
consider the lifetime mortality risk to be about 1 x 10-4/rem for all
cancers from whole-body exposure to gamma radiation. The total
lifetime risk of 2 x 10-4/rem used by ICRP (197%) includes genetic
effects for all generations. The lifetime cancer risk coefficient of
rem can be compared with the risk of lung cancer from radon daughter
inhalation, which has no genetic component. Table 9.3 lists the esti-
mated cancer risks for various levels of exposure.
The average external radiation background includes external terres-
trial gamma dose and the cosmic radiation dose. The average whole-
78 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

TABLE9.3-Expected excess total cancer mortality rates in indiuiduals

elposed to various levels of external whole-body radiation and a
- comparison with the observed cancer martakty.
equivalent Lifetime rink Annual risk
Conditions Deaths per Deathsly per
(mrem/y) Million exposed Million exposed
Average external back- 54 300 5
ground including cosmic
Possible limiting levels 200 1200 20
500 3000 50
lo00 6000 100

Occupational limit 5000 30000 500

Observed cancer
mortality in a Deaths per Average
U.S. population of million' annual risk
10 million
male 270000
female 280000
'Lifetime risk from Zdeb (1977).Annual risk obtained by dividing by 60.

body dose, including internal radionuclides is about 80 mrem/y, with

a lifetime risk of about 500 deaths per million exposed. This may be
compared with the lifetime risk for average background radon daughter
exposure of 1800 per million which is 4 times greater.
Comparing Table 9.3 and Table 9.1 it can be seen that the risks
associated with the occupational limits are about the same for external
radiation and for radon.

9.1.3 Ingestion
The members of the uranium series (except radon) are all heavy
metals and most of the elements metabolized after inhalation or
ingestion tend to concentrate in bone. Our basis of comparison for
these elements has been the skeletal content without specifying the
route of intake. The corresponding dose rates were developed in
Section 7. The risk for fatal bone cancer (UNSCEAR, 1977) is given
as 2-5 x lO-'j/rad for gamma radiation with the statement that alpha
radiation is comparable in this case, i.e., 2-5 x 10 -6/rem. The dose
calculated by UNSCEAR (1982) is that t o a surface layer 10 microm-
eters thick. The dose factor per unit concentration of radionuclide in
bone is higher than that calculated with the assumptions given in
Section 7. Because of this difference, the higher risk factor of 5 x
10-6/rem is used here.
 9.2 DOSE LIMITATION APPROACH 1 79
TABLE9.4-Expected excess bone cancer mortality rates in individuals exposed lo
radiation from members of the uranium series in their skeleton and a comparison with
the observed bone cancer mortality.
Conditions Skeletal content Lifetime risk deaths Annual risk deaths/
(di) v e r million exwsed v e r million e x w e d
Average background
2"U + mu
2%tl
ZlOpb 210p0
Occupational limit
226Ra
200
Observed bone cancer Deaths per Annual
Mortality in U.S. million risk
population of 10 million'
male
female
' Lifetime risk from Zdeb (1977). Annual risk obtained by dividing by 60.
Table 9.4 gives the estimated excess bone cancer mortality rates for
a few levels of the uranium series deposited in bone. Clearly the
average background levels are quite low and correspond to risks less
than lO-'j/yr.

9.2 Dose Limitation Approach

The current NCRP dose limitations are given in NCRP Report No.
39 Basic Radiation Protection Criteria (NCRP, 1971).
For individual members of the public, the dose limit for the critical
organs, (whole-body) is 0.5 rem in any one year-in addition to
radiation from natural sources and from medical and dental exposures.
No limit is given for other organs or tissues, although it is stated that:
"To have no organ or tissue exceed 0.5 rem/y is a reasonable target,
but it is arbitrary, of course, and may not always be achievable." A
limit of dose equivalent to the population is given as an average of
0.17 rem/y per person in the United States. As mentioned previously,
new NCRP criteria are being provided in another report (NCRP,
198413).

9.2.1 Inhalation
The radiation dose in tissue from inhaled radon daughters cannot
be measured and must be calculated. Table 9.5 gives the dose rates to
the bronchial epithelium calculated for various exposure rates of radon
daughters, based on the average conversion factor for all ages of 0.7
80 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
TABLE
9.5-Dose rate to the bronchial epithelium of the lung from
exposure to rodon daughter products.

-
Conditions
- -
, Absorbed done
rate (mred/y)
t h e equivalent
rate (mrem/y)

Average background 0.2 140 2800

Possible limiting 0.5 350 7000

levels 1O
. 700 14000
2.0 1400 28000

Occupational limit 4.0 2800 56000

rad/WLM developed by Harley and Pasternack (1982) for environ-

mental exposures and a quality factor of 20. If the aim cited above of
no organ or tissue exceeding 0.5 rem/y were applied to the bronchial
epithelium only exposures below 0.036 WLM/y of radon daughters
would be permissible. As this is only 116th of the average background
level it is unachievable.
The ICRP uses a dose factor of about 12 rem/WLM (ICRP, 1981)
for the tracheobronchial dose. The dose equivalent obtained is then
multiplied by a factor of 0.08 (ICRP 32) to give the regional effective
dose equivalent. Thus a limit of 0.5 WLMIy for radon daughters would
correspond to an effective dose equivalent limit of 500 mrem/y, ac-
cording to ICRP.

9.2.2 External Radiation

The external whole body doses have already been given in Table
9.3. In this case, 500 mremly is well above the average external
background, approximately ten times, and can be considered as a
practical limit.

9.2.3 Ingestion
Table 9.6 lists the dose equivalent rates for bone surfaces from
ingested radionuclides. These doses, with the assumptions given in
Section 7, are calculated for cells at 10 micrometers from the bone
surface. Both UNSCEAR (1982) and ICRP (1979) calculate the dose
to a layer from the surface to 10 micrometers. The UNSCEAR calcu-
lated doses would be about 50% higher, and the ICRP calculated doses
a few percent higher, than the rounded totals given in Table 9.6. Such
differences are not considered to be significant. A 500 mrem/y limit
 9.3 EXPOSURE DISTRlBUTION APPROACH / 81
TABLE9.6-Dose mte to bone surfaces from members of the umniwn
series in the skeleton. (Doses calculated as described in Section 7).
Skeletal content Absorbed doae Done equivalent
(&i) rate (rnradly) rate (mrem/y)
Average background
mu+ 4 0.01 0.2
=Ra 30 0.6 10
nopb zropo 360 2.6 60
Rounded total 60

Occupational limit
'=Ra 100OOO 1700 34000

would be practical because the average background rates are lower by

a factor of about 10 than this limit.
In the ICRP system (ICRP, 1977a), the calculated dose equivalent
for bone surfaces is multiplied by a factor of 0.03 to obtain the effective
dose equivalent, which would then be compared with the 500 mrem/y
allowed for whole body irradiation.

9.3 Exposure Distribution Approach

A broad survey of measured values of natural background is required

to allow adequate estimates of the average population exposure and
the statistical distribution of these exposures. This distribution can
then be used to predict the exposure level that will include all but
some small fraction of the population. This fraction of the population
would then be classed as having elevated natural exposure and reme-
dial action might be required. Thus, while the average natural back-
ground may not be of concern, the higher end of the range may be.
The situation with the inhalation of radon and its daughters, espe-
cially indoors, appears to be such a case even though data for radon
daughter exposures in the U.S. are not fully adequate to develop the
required distribution curve.
Areas with elevated and enhanced exposures to radon daughters
(and external radiation) have been sufficiently studied that limited
distribution curves can be developed for houses in parts of Colorado,
Florida and Montana. Some of the relevant data were listed in Tables
8.1 and 8.2. The houses in these groups are selected examples which
probably represent only the upper end of the total distribution curve,
which is not helpful on its own as a basis for judgements or recom-
mendations.
The distribution approach was used in Canada (see Appendix A) to
assess the situation for radon daughter exposure in uranium mining
82 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

communities. Their survey of a large number of houses (Letourneau

et d.,1979) led to the adoption of a limit of 0.02 WL for the average
annual exposure (1WLM/y). The limits selected for external exposure
were 0.05 mR/h indoors and 0.1 mR/h outdoors, which would result
in about 500 mrem/y if 80%of the time is spent indoors.
As examples, the distributions of radon daughter concentrations for
the highest and lowest Canadian cities are shown in Figure 9.1. It
must be remembered that the values measured are not necessarily
representative of annual population exposures, since the data are for
spot samples taken in cellars during the summer months. Concentra-
tions will probably be higher in winter, when the houses have less
ventilation. On the other hand, average concentrations in living areas
should be lower than in cellars.
The distributions in the figure may be compared with the concen-
trations of radon daughters found in a Montana mining community,
as given in Table 8.1. In this case, about 7% of the houses exceeded 5
WLM/y. The radon involved arises. from the natural mineralization
of the area and not from mining or milling residues near the houses.
The data are not representative of the full community because all of
the measurements were taken in a small portion of the city thought

90 50 10 1.0 0.1 001

Percent Exceeding Working LHel Shown
Fig. 9.1. Distribution of working level measurements in the highest and lowest
Canadian cities, as described in Section 5.
 9.3 EXPOSURE DISTRIBUTION APPROACH / 83
TABLE9.7-Cukulated distribution for the
lifetime risk of &ath from lung cancer for a
populatwn of one million having an average
exposure of 0.2 WLM/y and a geometric
standard deviation of 2.5.
Average % of Deaths per
WLMIV Pooulation million
C0.2 69.3 594
0.2-0.5 23.6 658
0.5-1.0 5.7 348
1.0-2.0 1.2 143
2.0-4.0 0.14 35
>4.0 - 22
Total 100.0 1800

to have the highest radon in the homes. The data serve, however, to
show that elevated natural levels of radon can exist in U.S. buildings
that have not been influenced by activities that lead to enhanced
levels.
If a radon daughter exposure of 0.2 WLM/y, assumed here as the
U.S. average, is combined with the mean geometric standard deviation
of 2.5 found for the Canadian cities, a tentative distribution for the
U.S. can be calculated. This distribution predicts that about 6% of the
houses would exceed 0.5 WLM/y, 1.2% would exceed 1 WLM/y and
that 0.14% would exceed 2 WLM/y.
It is of interest to estimate the distribution of cancer deaths within
the various exposure categories. This is shown in Table 9.7.
While the tentative distribution may not describe actual exposure
and risks in the U.S. accurately, the relative values may be reasonable.
The majority of the population risk is incurred by the large number of
people in the lower exposure categories, rather than the small number
of individuals with high exposures. Thus, any limit on radon daughter
exposure will reduce the individual risk for a few people but will not
markedly reduce the population risk.
In summary, there are not enough data to provide a full exposure
distribution for the United States. However, the Canadian data have
been utilized to establish a distribution for the U.S. (Table 9.7). It is
recognized that there are significant geological differences which point
to the pressing need for the acquisition of more comprehensive data
for the U.S.
Information on external radiation is not as extensive as one would
wish but the levels are about 50 mrem/y external, Table 9.3, and the
variations are within only about a factor of 2 in either direction,
(NCRP, 1975). Thus large groups of people exposed at high external
84 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

background levels are not expected. UNSCEAR (1982) combined the

available external gamma radiation data for Italy, Japan, the United
States and West Germany and found that the distribution was normal
with a median value of 30 mremly. Only about 1% of this population
is exposed at a level 50% above the median.
Levels of exposure from ingestion, Table 9.6 and earlier, are also
unlikely to lead to high exposures of groups of people.

9.4 Additivity

The foregoing indicates that exposure to members of the uranium

series depends on the physical and chemical behavior of the particular
element and is by three main routes, inhalation, external irradiation
and ingestion. The short-lived daughters of radon are an inhalation
hazard and deliver the significant dose to the bronchial epithelium.
The external gamma emitters, and to some extent the 210Poin the
body, irradiate the whole body. Internal deposition of the long-lived
daughters of radon and from ingested uranium and radium tends to
concentrate in bone and the dose is delivered to bone surfaces.
These varied doses to different organs are not directly additive, but
one might wish to consider some form of summation in order to
evaluate mixed exposures. One way is to express each exposure as a
fraction of a permissible limit and require that the sum of these
fractions not exceed unity. The ICRP, in its Publication 26 (ICRP,
1977a), used weighting factors for various organs to convert the organ
doses to effective whole body doses, which are then additive because
they represent risks. The weighting factors were set to be in proportion
to the health risk for exposure of the individual organs.
Although such a summation is possible for the three routes of
exposure to the uranium series, it does not appear to be necessary.
The ingestion route delivers only a small dose compared with external
whole body radiation and inhalation. Further, in most circumstances,
the external whole body dose is significantly less than the dose to lung
resulting from inhalation. Therefore, it seems appropriate to treat
these independently.

9.5 Exieting Recommendations

Before making any recommendations, it is necessary to review the

existing dose limits recommended by bodies such as the NCRP and
 9.6 SUMMARY / 85

the ICRP for public exposures. These are often adopted by regulatory
groups, usually with modifications. Some of the regulatory standards
have been mentioned in this report and a brief summary is provided
in Appendix A.
The NCRP, in its Report No. 39 (NCRP, 1971), recommended a
dose limit of 500 mrem/y for the critical organs (whole body) for an
individual in the population. The ICRP in its Publication 26 (ICRP,
1977a) gives the same dose limit for the whole body but derives higher
limits for the irradiation of individual organs through use of the
effective dose equivalent.
Neither NCRP nor ICRP in these reports specifically addressed the
radon daughter problem for populations. For occupational circum-
stances, the ICRP (1981) has recalculated the occupational limit as
4.8 WLM/y which is somewhat higher than the 4 WLM/y used for
miners in the United States. Applying the customary factor of one-
tenth to the 4 WLM/y would give a limit for individuals of 0.4
WLM/y. This limit, like all of those discussed, is for the incremental
exposure above natural background. Adding the average background
of 0.2 WLM/y assumed here would give a total of 0.6 WLM/y. Like
most of the values derived in the three approaches in this chapter, the
limit would be exceeded by a large number of individuals (Table 9.7).
The Surgeon General's guidelines for the Grand Junction houses
(CFR, 1972) required consideration of remedial action a t a radon
daughter exposure rate of 0.01 WL above background and mandated
remedial action at 0.05 WL. These would translate to 0.5 and 2.5
WLM/y above background, respectively.

9.6 Summary

In this section, three approaches have been utilized to evaluate

exposure of individuals to elevated or enhanced environmental radia-
tion from the uranium series. These are the risk approach, dose
limitation approach and the distribution of exposures from background
radiation approach. Within each approach, the relative contribution
from inhalation, external exposure and ingestion was evaluated. The
significant dose results from inhalation of radon and its daughters and
only rarely, in special geographical locations, does external exposure
provide a significant fraction of the total dose or constitute the most
significant component. Ingestion is not of special concern because the
resulting doses are so low.
The derivation of recommendations for radon and its daughters
presents difficult choices because the exposure distribution (Table 9.7)
86 / 9. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
is broad and ranges up to high values. Furthermore, the average radon
background level of 0.2 WLM/y leads to risks substantially greater
than from other background sources; thus, natural radon background
probably constitutes the most significant exposure of the U. S. popu-
lation. External radiation exposure and ingestion from the uranium
series do not represent the same risks.
This section has presented the relevant dose limits previously rec-
ommended by the NCRP and the ICRP. They offer guidance for
external radiation exposure and ingestion but were not intended to
address the special case of radon daughters.
10. Recommendations

This Section will present recommendations for controlling exposure

to individuals in the population from members of the uranium series.
They are intended to indicate the point at which some form of remedial
action to reduce exposure is advisable. They are all, therefore, termed
remedial action levels. They apply to annual exposures to individuals
and are not intended to apply to shorter periods. The remedial action
levels are for total exposures, including background and are not
intended to be applied separately to individual components of the
total.
Setting remedial action levels based on the distribution of natural
background involves considerations of both risk and practicality. A
choice must be made at a level where the remedial action required is
reasonable given the costs involved and other factors. It is desirable
to minimize the impact by placing the remedial action level at a point
where as few buildings as possible require remedial action. However,
in view of the possibility of very high exposures in some circumstances,
remedial action levels are necessary to limit the health risks to the
people involved.
Remedial action levels based on considerations developed earlier
and especially in Section 9 are presented for inhalation and for external
exposure circumstances. Other circumstances relating to ingestion and
to land use are discussed but no specific levels are developed. The
Section concludes with one subsection on the use of the recommen-
dations and another on the need for additional data.

10.1 Inhalation

Inhalation of the short-lived daughter products of 222Rnpresents

the greatest exposure to individuals from members of the uranium
series in the environment. The estimated risk and calculated dose
from average background levels, as shown in Section 9, are about
1/20 of the present occupational limits and the distribution is such
that a considerable number of people are exposed to levels 10 times
the average in areas of elevated natural background. It is believed that
87
88 1 lo. RECOMMENDATIONS

the risk and dose estimates of Section 9 are reasonable derivations

from the available data, although there are no human epidemiological
data that show increases in lung cancer at the radon daughter levels
considered here. However, the epidemiologic data indicate that the
risk from radon daughters cannot be appreciably higher than has been
estimated.
The remedial action level selected must be based on consideration
of the probable distribution of natural exposures and of the calculated
risk associated with exposures at that level. In particular, recommen-
dation of a low level to minimize the risk is not warranted if the
impacts are excessive. Thus, the selection will inevitably involve a risk
greater than the average to those individuals exposed near the remedial
action level.
In this report, it is considered that an excess risk of death from lung
cancer of 2% or more over a lifetime for the individual exposed to
elevated or enhanced levels of radon daughters should be avoided.
This would correspond to an annual exposure of 2 WLM which is now
specified as the remedial action level for radon daughter inhalatioa2
This is about 10 times the average background exposure assumed for
the United States. The associated annual risk is 4 X lo-' for a 45y
period of expression and the cancers would appear after age 40. It
must be emphasized that the lung cancer risk expressed here is for
those exposed at the remedial action level (2 WLM/y) and that the
population risk depends on the average background exposure (0.2
WLM/y) which is approximately one tenth of this level.
The recommendation is that exposures beyond the remedial action
level s h o d be reduced by appropriate remedial action. Exposures
below this level may not be acceptable to some individuals and they
are free to reduce their exposures as they see fit.
For the purposes of protection from environmental radiation, a
remedial action level based on lifetime exposure is not practical.
Adherence to the annual level of 2 WLM/y will mean that the average
lifetime exposure rate for individuals must necessarily be lower than
2 WLM/y and that their average risk of lung cancer will actually be
less than 4 x 10-4/y.
Table 9.2 indicates that a lifetime exposure to the recommended
'This report discusses concentrations of radon and its daughters only, however,
thoron is often present also and may contribute appreciably, perhaps, 20% to the dose
(UNSCEAR, 1982). There are no data to assess population exposures to thoron daugh-
ters in the United States and radon daughter memuring equipment does not make the
necessary separate measurement of thoron or its daughters. When adequate information
is available, it may be advisable to include thoron daughter exposures in the recommen-
dations.
 10.2 EXTERNAL RADIATION / 89
remedial action level for radon daughters would reduce the probability
of living to age 70 from 65.5% to 64.1% and the probability of living
to age 85 from 24.5% to 22.6%. The reduction a t age 45 would be from
92.7% to 92.4%.
The annual average exposure rate of 2 WLM/y can be translated
into an average WL of 0.04. The recommendation is specifically not
given in these terms because occupancy factors may allow higher WL
values in the home, if these are compensated for by lower WL values
outdoors, in work places and in other buildings.

10.2 External Radiation

The dose equivalent rate to the whole body from natural external
radiation averages about 50 mrem/y, including cosmic and terrestrial
gamma radiation, with the two sources contributing about equally.
The consequent cancer mortality risk would be about 5 x 1OW6/y.This
may be compared with the calculated risk from average background
exposure to radon daughters of 40 x 10-6/y.
Areas with elevated or enhanced levels of the uranium series may
have higher external radiation exposures than 50 mrem/y (see Section
4), but the dose rates that have been recorded for elevated or enhanced
levels of the uranium series have not exceeded the limit for individuals
in the population of 500 mrem/y (NCRP, 1971).
NCRP recommendations in preparation (NCRP, 198413) for expo-
sures to individual members of the public for occasional and continu-
ous exposures are as follows:
1. a maximum limit of 500 mrem in any one year (other than
medical and natural background) to an individual member of the
public is still recommended, but not for continuous or repeated
exposures;
2. it is recommended that continuous exposures (other than medical
and natural background) resulting in a dose equivalent of 100
mrem/y or more to individual members of the public be avoided;
3. in situations where continuous exposures resulting in dose equiv-
alents of 100 mrem/y cannot be avoided, such as from elevated
or enhanced natural sources, NCRP recommends a remedial
action level of 500 mrem/y from external radiation from all
sources except medical.
When elevated or enhanced exposures involve a combination of
radon daughter inhalation and external radiation, the former is ex-
pected to be the controlling factor. The added risk from the accom-
90 / lo. RECOMMENDATIONS

panying gamma radiation should be small enough that any attempt to

recommend reduced remedial action levels for the combined exposure
is not warranted. The recommended total external gamma radiation
limit of 500 mrem/y may be a controlling factor in some exposures
which are not accompanied by high levels of radon daughters but such
cases should be rare.

10.3 Ingestion

The contribution of dose from ingested radionuclides in areas of

elevated or enhanced natural activity is usually much less than that
from the inhaled short-lived radon daughters or even that from exter-
nal radiation (see Section 9). Thus there is no need for either a
separate remedial action level or for establishing a remedial action
level which includes dietary intake. Occasional monitoring may be
desirable nevertheless. Attention might be paid to water supplies,
since water concentration is most indicative of local conditions.

10.4 Land Used for Agriculture

It would appear that some consideration of the soil content of

radionuclides whether elevated or enhanced is desirable for land that
is to be used for agricultural purposes. A practical solution is to
recommend use of such land for crops that have minimal uptake of
radionuclides of the uranium series or for crops that are not directly
consumed by humans. Such consideration should be given to soils with
concentrations of 2000 pCi/g (3000 micrograms/g) of natural uranium,
40 pCi/g of 226Ra,or 20 pCi/g of 2'0Pb in the rooting zones of crops to
be grown. Note that this is not a recommended remedial action level
but merely a guide for land use. The derivation of these values is given
in Appendix C.

10.5 Land to be Used for Housing

It would be most useful to be able to predict with certainty what

radon daughter concentrations will appear in a new house built on
land with elevated or enhanced uranium series activity because action
is almost always more expensive after construction than before. Un-
 10.6 USE OF T H E RECOMMENDATIONS / 91
fortunately this is usually not possible. Certain features described in
Section 5 can minimize radon influx into a building and the installa-
tion of a sub-slab ventilation system could almost ensure that the new
house would result in exposure levels below those requiring remedial
action.
Although it is not possible to make broad general recommendations
for soil concentration limits, local authorities may find that adequate
predictions are possible for specific areas. In any case, the actual
gamma radiation levels and working levels in the finished buildings
are the final criteria for evaluating exposures to people.

10.6 Use of the Recommendations

The remedial action levels recommended in this report are intended

to apply to those individuals in the population subject to elevated or
enhanced radiation exposures from members of the uranium series.
Exposures above the recommended action levels should be the basis
for remedial action, but the extent and timing of the action obviously
depends on the magnitude of the exposure. Since the recommendations
do not make a sharp division into safe and unsafe levels, but merely
mark a reference point in the gradation of risk, a degree of judgement
on the speed and extent of the response should be applied in individual
cases.
As noted in the Introduction, the recommendations are intended t o
apply to measured total exposures. In particular, the recommendation
on radon daughter exposures is not readily applicable to the control
of effluents from operating facilities, since the prediction of the rele-
vant annual indoor exposures from release quantities is not considered
to be practical.
The recommended action levels are based on the exposure of indi-
viduals and most often action will be necessary only in local areas
with above-average exposures. Remedial action levels are not to be
multiplied for example, by the population of the United States to
obtain an apparent permissible collective dose.
No remedial action should be taken based on information that is
inadequate for estimating annual exposure. As mentioned before,
radon daughter evaluations, in particular, require integrated or ex-
tended measurements, covering a year under representative living
conditions. Occupancy time in different buildings or even in different
rooms becomes critical if exposures vary markedly from place to place.
External radiation can be evaluated with measurement periods of a
92 / lo. RECOMMENDATIONS

few months and ingestion exposure need be evaluated only infre-

quently.
As noted above, the remedial action levels recommended in this
report are associated with the estimated values of risk. If a n individual
feels that this risk is excessive, the person is free to take remedial
measures to reduce the risk to any desired level.

10.7 Need for Additional Data

Without a knowledge of the actual exposure distribution and a

further knowledge of the extent of the remedial action required to
reduce exposures t o specific levels, a comprehensive cost benefit anal-
ysis is not feasible.
It is apparent that a broader data base on exposures, particularly
for radon daughters, would provide mean values and distributions
more adequate for assessing the impact of exposure limits. T h e present
data may be sufficient for development of a statistical sampling plan
that could provide the needed information. Also, the statistical meth-
odology and experience from the Canadian survey and other studies
might be valuable in planning for a U.S. study.
A preliminary range-finding survey should be designed to cover
perhaps 1000 homes within 10 of the 100 largest Standard Metropol-
itan Statistical Districts. The Districts should be selected to give
geographical coverage and, within Districts, the homes should be
selected to represent the distribution of urban vs. non-urban, single
family vs. multifamily, and modern vs. older structures.
Two consecutive six-month integrated measurements, a s described
in Appendix B, should be made in the living room a t each location.
Passive monitors for radon daughter concentration would be desirable
but, if this is not feasible, radon measurements would be acceptable.
The overall value of the survey would be increased if thermolumines-
cent dosimeters were included to measure the external radiation
exposure.
The results of this study should allow decisions to be made as to
whether a larger measurement program is necessary to characterize
exposures in the United States.
The NCRP recommends that such a program be undertaken without
delay.
 10.8 SUMMARY / 93
10.8 Summary
The recommendations are-
1. Remedial action is advisable if the total exposure to radon daugh-
ter products for an individual in the population exceeds an annual
average of 2 WLM, including background, which is defined as the
remedial action level for inhalation3
2. Remedial action is advisable if the total exposure from all sources,
except medical, to penetrating external radiation for an individual in
the population subject to elevated or enhanced radiation exposures
from members of the uranium series exceeds an annual average of 500
mrem including background. Thus 500 mrem/y is the remedial action
level for external radiatiom4
These recommendations indicate that continuous exposure of indi-
viduals in the population to 2 WLM/y of short-lived radon daughters
for a lifetime should be avoided. The external gamma radiation asso-
ciated with such exposures is not considered to present enough added
risk to require a summation technique for exposure assessment. In
special cases where external radiation becomes a controlling factor,
500 mrem/y from all sources except medical is the recommended
remedial action level.
The practical result of limiting individual annual exposures at 2
WLM or at 500 mrem is that the average lifetime exposure for any
individual will usually be lower than the product of age and the limit,
with a consequent smaller risk. The average exposure of population
groups in the area should be smaller yet.
No specific limit is recommended here for exposure to ingested
radionuclides of the uranium series. The risk is minimal. relative to
inhalation.
In Section 9, two ways of expressing the risk were given, the
reduction in life expectancy and the calculated risk of developing
cancer from exposure to specific levels of radon daughters or to
external radiation. Table 9.2 indicates that a lifetime exposure to the
recommended limit for radon daughters would reduce the probability
This report discusses concentrations of radon and its daughters only, however,
thoron is often present a180 and may contribute appreciably, perhaps, 20% to the dose
(UNSCEAR, 1982).There are no data to assess population exposures to thoron daugh-
ters in the United States and radon daughter measuring equipment does not make the
necessary separate measurement of thoron or its daughters. When adequate information
is available. it may be advisable to include thoron daughter exposures in the recommen-
dations.
'As indicated in Section 10.2 NCRP recommendations in preparation make three
distinct recommendations about external exposure and individual members of the public.
94 1 10. RECOMMENDATIONS

of living to age 70 from 65.5% to 64.1%. The reduction a t age 45 would

be from 92.7% to 92.4% and at age 85 from 24.5% to 22.6%.
Lifetime exposures to radon daughters and to external gamma
radiation at the recommended remedial action levels lead to total
calculated risks of 4 X and 0.5 x radiation-induced cancer
deaths per year, respectively. These risks might be compared with the
risk of 0.4 x 10-4/y for average radon daughter background, and 0.05
X 10-4/y for the average external radiation background.
APPENDIX A

Regulatory Status
Three countries, Canada, Sweden and the United States have found
levels of environmental radon that are high enough that some form of
regulation has been considered. The status of their actions is given in
this Appendix.

A. 1 Canada

Under the Atomic Energy Control Act, for all radon contamination
arising from the nuclear industry and for houses built in uranium
mining areas or those contaminated by refined radium or contami-
nated fill, the primary clean-up criterion for radon daughter products
indoors is 0.02 WL based on an annual average concentration.
Remedial measures start with a detailed survey of the building and
its surroundings in order to locate and identify the source of radon.
Any radioactive material found will be removed to an appropriate
waste management site or, if this is not practicable, other measures
may be taken such as improving the ventilation or sealing the walls
and floors of the basement. Once remedial measures have been started,
they will continue until the radon levels have been reduced below the
primary criterion.
The second criterion is a guideline for all other areas in Canada and
involves natural radiation not associated with the nuclear industry.
This is for areas under provincial jurisdiction. The guideline is as
follows: "A single grab sample measured in the most critical area of
less than 0.1 WL shall require no further action. If the working level
is greater than or equal to 0.1, then a realistic estimate of the annual
effective dose equivalent must be determined. Should this estimate
exceed 5 millisieverts (500 mrem), then remedial measures shall be
undertaken."

A.2 Sweden

A provisional limit for radon daughter concentrations where reme-

dial action shall be undertaken within 2 years is set a t 0.27 WL and
95
96 / APPENDIX A

for remedial action within 5 years at 0.11 WL. (It is estimated that
5000 to 15000 dwellings are affected.) For existing buildings undergo-
ing major alterations, an upper limit of 0.06 WL is proposed.

A.3 United States

The specific case of buildings constructed on or with mill tailings in

Grand Junction, CO was covered by guidelines issued by the U. S.
Surgeon General (CFR, 1972). These recommended that remedial
action be considered at 0.01 WL and mandated remedial action at 0.05
WL above background.
There is currently no federal legislation which might be invoked as
the statutory basis for a generalized program of regulating the radon
levels in homes. Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 42 USC, Section
7412, could be used by listing radionuclides as hazardous air pollutants.
However, the thrust of the Clean Air Act is towards prevention of
atmospheric pollution and the maintenance of ambient air quality.
The regulations implementing the Act specifically define the term
ambient air as "that portion of the atmosphere external to buildings
to which the general public has accessn.
There does exist a basis for the regulation of indoor radon levels in
certain limited circumstances under current federal legislation. Certain
waste materials known to be radon sources are subject to regulation
under the Atomic Energy Act (uranium mine tailings) and the Re-
source Conservation and Recovery Act (waste from uranium and
phosphate mining). In the case of uranium mine tailings, regulation
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now specifically mandated
pursuant to an amendment to the definition of the term "by-product
materialn in the Atomic Energy Act accomplished by the Uranium
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978. Similarly, radon-emitting
wastes from uranium and phosphate mining activity are subject to
regulation as hazardous waste pursuant to the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act of 1976. Regulation of radon in inhabited structures
under either of these two Acts is limited to situations involving the
utilization of material which emits radon and otherwise meets the
respective statutory definitions of by-product material or hazardous
waste.
Another regulatory basis may be found under the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. However, it is clear that the principal
thrust of the Act is aimed at chemical substances or mixtures subse-
quent to manufacture or processing. This limits its utility in regulating
 REGULATORY STATUS / 97
naturally-occurring radon. In addition, the TSCA authorizes regula-
tion to prevent "an unreasonable risk to injury and health". This
standard for triggering statutory coverage may well require more
rigorous evidence of adverse health effects than is currently possible
with naturally-occurring radon.
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA has authority to establish
maximum contaminant levels for radioactive pollutants in the finished
drinking water furnished by community water systems to their cus-
tomers. Private wells are unregulated. No maximum contaminant level
for radon has been promulgated
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has
authority to issue regulations to implement the National Housing
Policy goal of "a decent home and suitable living environment for
every American family". The Department takes the view that, under
this authority, it could issue regulations which, on a prospective basis
(e.g., applicable to mortgages refinanced or entered into after the
effective date of such regulations) could establish radon exposure
limits with respect to public housing and to private housing financed
in whole or in part with federal financial assistance.
In Montana, HUD convinced the state that it should adopt the EPA
recommendations for HUD projects. The 0.02 WL number is used for
remedial action, with the level being based on a four-season grab
sample system.
In January 1981, the NRC amended 10CFR20-Standards for Pro-
tection Against Radiation-to delete Section 20.304 which provided
general authority for disposal of radioactive materials by burial. Under
the amended regulations, licensees must obtain specific NRC approval
to dispose of thorium or uranium wastes from past operations by
onsite burial.
A similar authority is provided to the Secretary of Agriculture but
again it is fairly certain that the regulation of radon exposure levels
would be possible only on a prospective basis. Accordingly, while there
is apparent authority for the development of regulations, no regulatory
scheme is in place at present.
In conclusion, no current legislation provides any particularly useful
guidance with respect to a workable approach to the regulation of
radon daughter concentrations in inhabited structures.
APPENDIX B

Measurements For
Assessing Exposures
It is not the purpose of this report to describe in detail the various
methods of measurement that may be used for assessment purposes.
It is worth noting, however, a few points that should be considered in
planning a measurement program or in weighing the validity of re-
ported results. These will be noted under the headings for the three
modes of exposure.
In general, when exposures are well below any recommended
limits, the accuracy of the techniques is not as critical. At levels where
decisions have to be made by a regulatory body, an accuracy of perhaps
+20% would be desired. In reality, for health protection, there is no
sharp dividing line between safe and unsafe. Since the limit is not
sharply defined, a decision based on experience is required for each
case.

B. 1 Radon Daughter Inhalation

It must be stressed repeatedly that the only relevant measurement

for radon daughter exposure is the annual average exposure under
actual living conditions. Many factors, not detailed here, cause sig-
nificant variations on a diurnal or seasonal basis. Thus, single or even
multiple grab samples are not truly valid for exposure evaluation. They
are useful for screening purposes, that is for indicating whether a
building requires detailed study or whether it can be considered
acceptable. This approach is noted in Appendix A, as it is used in
Canada.
Continuous samples, integrated samples or even repeated grab sam-
ples are expensive. A number of integrating monitors that measure
98
 MEASUREMENTS FOR ASSESSING EXPOSURES / 99

total exposure over weeks or months are available, but the cheapest
costs over $1000 to purchase and operating costs must be added.
Several groups have used commercial track detector monitors for radon
daughters. They are less costly-perhaps $300 for a series of four
quarterly measurements-but there are still questions as to their
accuracy for environmental levels. The data from the radon detectors
seem to be better than the data for the daughter detectors. This system
might be adequate for screening purposes. True continuous monitors
for radon or radon daughters give data, for example, on an hourly
basis which is useful in many scientific studies but is not needed for
monitoring.
There is considerable variability from house to house, depending on
construction and living pattern, and using a single structure to typify
an area is not valid. Thus, each house has to be monitored when
elevated or enhanced levels are suspected. Multistory apartment build-
ings should be more amenable to generalization within a given struc-
tural type but there are few data.

B.2 External Exposure

The measurement of personal external gamma exposure by ther-

moluminescent dosimeters (TLD) is adequate for monitoring. The
dosimeters can be worn for three months which should be adequate
for evaluation. External exposure is less variable than that for radon
daughters so even a one-month measurement might be sufficient for
screening.
It is also possible to use TLD for area monitoring, for example, to
measure different rooms in a house, outdoors, work areas and so on,
but the estimation of individual dose from these data becomes a
complex bookkeeping job. Thus, area TLD's are generally only used
for checking the location of radiation sources, although instantaneous
measurements with radiation survey instruments are more efficient
for this purpose. Survey meter readings are not adequate for exposure
assessment, both because extended measurements are needed and
because the energy response of most survey instruments is not suitable.
It must be pointed out that measuring external gamma radiation as
a substitute for radon daughter measurements is invalid. Many field
studies have failed to reveal any correlation between the two.
100 / APPENDIX B

B.3 Ingestion Expsoure

Skeletal burdens of uranium series radionuclides at environmental
levels are not measurable in uivo. An estimate of population exposure
can be obtained by radiochemical analysis of autopsy specimens. The
skeletal content is a stable quantity, so a series of analyses perhaps
once a decade is sufficient for an area. If local contamination is
suspected, a more rapid evaluation is possible by analysis of dietary
samples. The measurement of soils involves an additional modelling
step to estimate human exposure and requires information on the
fraction of the diet coming from the contaminated area, so it is not
usually helpful in exposure evaluation. Soil analysis is most helpful
for predictive purposes, that is for making decisions on future land
use for agriculture.

B.4 Summary

The assessment of external and ingestion exposures does not require

frequent measurement since the sources are quite stable. Contamina-
tion levels should be detected by other means than population studies.
Radon daughters, on the other hand, are so variable that only an
annual average exposure estimate is adequate. Suitable instruments
and analytical methods exist but the required effort and the costs are
high. It is apparent that less valid techniques will often be substituted,
but it should be realized that the resulting decisions may not be
soundly based.
APPENDIX C

Derivation of
Soil Guides-Uranium,
Radium and Lead-210
The NCRP (1971) states, "The dose limit for critical organs (whole
body) of an individual not occupationally exposed shall be 0.5 rem in
any one year, . .. ." If the reasonable target of no organ or tissue
receiving 0.5 rems annually (NCRP, 1971) is applied to bone, it can
be utilized for deriving an agricultural guide. A dose limit of 500 mrem/
y to bone is used as the dose limit for deriving an agricultural guide
for radium, uranium and 'lOPb.
In Section 7, the dose rates to bone surfaces for 1 pCi/g of the
nuclides are given. For these derivations, the representative distance
from bone surface for the absorption of alpha energy is taken to be 10
micrometers. Thus, the dose rates for 1 pCi/g of bone are 20 mrads/y
for 234U, 13 mradsly for 'W, 84 mrads/y for 226Ra,including one-third
of the daughters, and 34 mradsly for 210Pb.

C.1 Uranium
Because natural uranium consists of 23aUand 234U,both will con-
tribute to the bone dose. The 238U in one microgram of natural uranium
has an activity of 0.33 pCi. The 234Uactivity, when in equilibrium, is
also 0.33 pCi but its mass is negligible. Thus one microgram of natural
uranium has a total activity of 0.66 pCi. This latter conversion is used
here and 1 pCi of natural uranium refers to 238Uplus 234U,Thus, the
dose factor from Table 7.5 to be used is the average of those for the
two isotopes or 16.5 mrad/y per pCi/g bone for natural uranium.
The weight of the marrow-free skeleton in reference man is 5000 g,
so the dose rate given is for 5000 pCi in the skeleton. A quality factor
of 20 is used here to convert absorbed dose rate in bone surfaces to
101
102 / APPENDIX C

dose equivalent rate. The amount of uranium in the skeleton to give

500 mremly is, then, 7600 pCi.
Hursh and Spoor (1973) have reviewed much of the information
available on administrations of uranium to humans. In their review,
they reported pertinent data on the uptake by humans upon continued
ingestion of uranium. A summary of the uranium in the diet and in
tissue for the U.S. and the U.K. is given in Table C.1. The significant
quantities are in reasonable agreement for the two countries. The data
for daily dietary intake are also supported by measurements in Japan.
The urinary output for the U.S. is based on 37 subjects and the output
for the U. K. is based on 300 samples. From Table C.l, the number of
days intake equivalent retained in the bone can be estimated by
assuming that all of the bone samples were taken from subjects at
equilibrium with their diet. If the ratio of bone ash to mineral bone is
0.4, then mineral bone in the U. S. contains 8 ng of U/g of bone and
a skeleton with 5000 g bone contains about 40 micrograms. Thus, the
quantity in bone represents a 31-day intake by ingestion. The U. K.
data indicate an accumulation of 40 days of intake in the bone.
In the following, an accumulation in the bone equal to that ingested
in 35 days will be used. Thus, the daily intake to arrive a t 500 mreml
y is 7600135 = 220 pCi/d. (This is 330 micrograms per day.) Another
calculation can be made using the ICRP Publication 30 (1979) scheme
of 20% of that taken into the blood going to bone with a 20-day half-
life and 2.3% with a 5000-day half-life. Using an absorption from the
gut of 20%, in accordance with the findings of Adams and Spoor
(1974), also results in an estimated intake limit of 220 pCi/d.
To convert this intake limit to concentration in foodstuffs, it is
necessary to know how much an individual eats from the uranium-
containing area. Table 7.1 provides estimates of the average amounts
of different types of foods consumed along with the measured concen-

TABLE
C.l-Natural uranium in diet and tissue
Description U.S. Values U.K. Values
Tissue concentration (ng/g)
Blood
Lung
Liver
Bone Ash
Dietary intake (nglday)
Urinary excretion (ng/day)
Tap water concentration (ng/liter)
Air concentration (ng/m3)
Total estimated body content (micrograms)
 DERIVATION O F SOIL GUIDES 1 103
tration of uranium in each type of foodstuff. The total intake, exclud-
ing fish, is about 1750 g/d. An argument can be made that a given
individual will not grow all of the food that is eaten, so the total intake
from the local area should be lower. Also, there are undoubtedly
significant differences in the concentration ratios in different food-
stuffs. For lack of detailed information on the land and its uses and
the actual food to soil concentration ratios, however, it was assumed
that the 1750 g/d intake was appropriate. (Note that weighting the
amount of foodstuffs eaten by the ratio of the concentration to the
average gives the same result.)
Using the 1750 g/d intake and the intake limit of 220 pCi of natural
uranium per day, the average food concentration limit would be 130
pCi/kg. The concentration ratio of vegetation to dry soil from Section
7 is 8 x for uranium. Thus, the soil concentration guide is 1600
pCi/g which is rounded to 2000 pCi/g. The rounded figure for the
mass concentration is 3000 micrograms of uranium/g soil.
The problem of inhaling soil at these concentrations was also
considered. Using an effective dust loading of 200 micrograms/m3, the
whole lung dose equivalent at equilibrium is 360 mrem/y if the uranium
is in a class D compound (retained in the lung for days) or 3600 mrem/
y if it is in a class Y compound (retained in the lung for weeks). Thus,
inhalation can be a controlling factor at high soil concentrations.

C.2 Radium

The Federal Radiation Council (FRC, 1961) indicated that the 226Ra
in the skeleton of individuals drinking water with a higher than normal
content of radium does not exceed about 50 times the daily intake
from all sources. Wrenn (1975), using data from 3 continental U. S.
cities and from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the U. K. and Kerala, India,
derived values for the skeletal content of from 7 to 96 times the daily
intake. The values for the 3 continental cities were 14,15 and 16, with
San Juan being 24. The U. K. values ranged from 7 to 17, while the
Kerala burden was 96 times the daily intake. Kerala is a high back-
ground area and Wrenn questioned whether the intake may have been
underestimated or the skeletal content overestimated. Stehney and
Lucas (1950) measured the ratio as 24 for adult controls, 17 for adult
prisoners in Stateville, 22 for Chicago boys and 45 for boys in Lockport,
an area where the radium concentration in water is known to be high.
From their data they tentatively concluded that a greater fraction of
104 / APPENDIX C

the radium is retained in childhood than after maturity is reached and

that the retention of radium ingested in water is greater than that
ingested in food.
From these data, a ratio between skeletal burden and daily intake
of 25 was assumed. This is one-half of the value for the ratio that the
FRC said "-does not exceed-", but is higher than the majority of
measurements made in the U. S., particularly for those where the
primary intake was with food.
The dose rate for radium in bone is 84 mrad/y to bone surfaces for
a concentration of 1 pCi/g. The dose equivalent rate is 1700 mrem/y
for a total skeletal content of 5000 pCi, so 500 mrem/y corresponds to
a skeletal content of 1500 pCi. This may be divided by 25 to give the
average dietary intake of 60 pCi/d. Table 7.1 indicates that meat is
very low in radium. This contribution is therefore omitted and an
intake of 1500 g/d is assumed. This gives an average concentration
limit of 40 pCi/kg in foodstuffs. From Section 7, the plant/soil con-
centration ratio is 1 x which leads to a soil concentration guide
of 40 pCi/g.

The data for 'lOPb are not quite as good as those for uranium and
radium, but a similar derivation is possible. The dose rate factor from
Table 6.6 is 34 mrad/y for 1pCi/g bone, so the skeletal burden required
to give 500 mrem/y would be 3700 pCi. From ICRP Publication 30
(1979), it is possible to derive a value of 320 days of intake to represent
the skeletal burden. The maximum daily intake would then be 11pCi/
d or 6 pCi/kg. Using the plant/soil concentration ratio of 4 x
from Section 7, the soil concentration corresponding to a dose equiv-
alent of 500 mrem/y would be 15 pCi/g. This is rounded to 20 pCi/g
for simplicity.
References
ADAMS,N., A N D SPOOR,N. L. (1974). 'Kidney and bone retention functions
in the human metabolism of uranium," Phys. Med. Biol. 19, 460.
ANSPAUCH, L. R., SHINN,J. H., PHELPS,P. L., AND KENNEDY, N. C. (1975).
"Resuspension and redistribution of plutonium in soils," Health Phys. 29,
571.
ASIKAINEN, M., AND KAHLOS,H. (1980) "Natural radioactivity of drinking
water in Finland," Health Phys. 39,77.
BEASLEY, T. M., OSTERBERC, C. L., A N D JONES,J. M. (1969). "Natural and
artificial radionuclides in seafoods and marine protein concentrates," Nature
221,1207.
BECK,H. L. (1972). "The physics of environmental gamma-radiation fields,"
Natural Radiation Environment I I , Adams, J. A. S., Lowder, W. M., and
Gesell, T. F., Eds., United States Energy Research and Development Ad-
ministration Report CONF 720805 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice, Springfield, Va.).
BECK,H. L. (1974). "Gamma radiations from radon daughters in the atmos-
phere," J. Geophys. Res. 79, 2215.
BERNARD, S. R. (1979). "Metabolic model for polonium," Health Phys. 36,
731.
BLANCHARD, R. L., A N D MOORE,J. B. (1970). uZ'OPband Z 1 O in P ~tissues of
some Alaskan residents as related to consumption of caribou or reindeer
meat," Health Phys. 18, 127.
BOCEN,K. T., A N D GOLDIN,A. S. (1981). "Population exposure to external
natural radiation background in the United States," United States Environ-
mental Protection Agency Technical Note ORP/SEPD-80-12.
BOCEN,D. C., WELFORD,G. A,, A N D MORSE,R. S. (1976). "General popula-
tion exposure of stable lead and "OPb to residents of New York City,"
Health Phys. 30, 359.
BRESLIN,A. J., AND GLAUBERMAN, H. (1970). "Investigation of Radioactive
Dust Dispersed from Uranium Tailings Piles," in Environmental Surveil-
lance in the Vicinity of Nuclear Facilities, Reinig, W. C., Ed. (Charles C.
Thomas, Springfield, Illinois).
BURKSER, E., SCHAPIRO,M., A N D BRONSTEIN, K. (1929). "Radiumgelhalt
einiger nahrungsmittel," Biochem Z 211, 322.
CFR (1972). Code of Federal Regulations. "Surgeon General's Guidelines for
Exposure Levels in Buildings Constructed on or with Mill Tailings," (Gov-
ernment Printing Office, Washington).
CAMERAS, R., AND RICKARDS, J. (1973). "Measurements of gamma-ray atten-
105
106 / REFERENCES

uations for construction materials," Rev. Mex. Fis., Suppl. Fis. Apl. 22,
FA1.
CASE,G. (1979). "Seasonal fluctuation of the radon daughter to parent radon
ratio," presented a t 2nd Workshop on Radon and Radon Daughters in Urban
Communities Associated with Uranium Mining and Processing, Bancroft,
Ontario, March 1979.
CASTREN,0. (1980). "The contribution of bored wells to respiratory radon
daughter exposures in Finland," page 1364 in Natural Radiation Enuiron-
ment III., Gesell, T. F. and Lowder, W. M., Ecls., United States Department
of Energy Symposium Series 51 CONF 780422 (National Technical Infor-
mation Service, Springfield, Va.).
CASTREN,O., ASIKAINEN, M., ANNANMAKI, M., A N D STENSTRAND, K. (1977).
"High natural radioactivity of bored wells as a radiation hygienic problem
in Finland," page 1033 in International Radiation Protection AssocLation,
IVth International Congress Proceedings Vol. 3. (Imprimerie Gauthier-
Villars, Montreuil, France).
CHERRY,R. D., AND SHANNON, L. V. (1974). "The alpha radioactivity of
marine organisms," At. Energy Rev., 12, 3. (International Atomic Energy
Agency).
CLIFF,K. D. (1978). "Assessment of airborne radon daughter concentrations
in dwellings in Great Britain," Phys. Med. Biol. 23. 696.
CLIFF,K. D. (1980). "Radon daughter exposure of the U.K. population: effects
of energy conservation and possible action to reduce exposure," presented
a t Workshop on Radon Daughters in Urban Communities Associated with
Uranium Mining and Processing, Port Hope, Ontario, March 12-14,1980.
CLINE,W., ADAMOVITZ, S., BLACKMAN, C., AND KAHN,B. (1981). "Radium
and uranium concentrations in Georgia public water supplies," presented a t
the Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Louisville (June 1981).
CMHC (1981). Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Radongas, Prob-
lem Land Series No. 6.
COHEN,B. S., EISENBUD,M., AND HARLEY, N. H. (1980a). "Alpha radioactiv-
ity in cigarette smoke," Radiat. Res. 83, 190.
COHEN,B. S., EISENBUD, M., AND HARLEY, N. H.(1980b). "Measurement of
the alpha radioactivity on the mucosal surface of the human bronchial tree,"
Health Phys. 39,619.
COHEN,B. S., EISENBUD,M., WRENN,M. E., AND HARLEY,N. H. (1979).
"Distribution of '''Po in the human lung," Radiat. Res. 79, 162.
COTHBRN, C. R.,LAPPENBUSCH, W.L., AND SHERMAN, L. E. (1981). "Con-
centration of radium and other isotopes in drinking water," presented at
the 26th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Louisville.
DHRS (1978). Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Florida.
Study of Rodon Daughter Concentrations in Structures in Polk and Hillsbor-
ough Counties (State of Florida, Fiadiological Health Services, Tallahassee).
DHRS (1981). Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Florida.
"Study of radiocontaminants in private drinking water supplies in selected
 REFERENCES / 107
Florida counties," Preliminary Report (Unpublished) (State of Florida Ra-
diological Health Services, Tallahassee, Florida).
DRURY,J. S., REYNOLDS, S., OWEN,P. T., ROSS, R. H. A N D ENSMINGER, J.
T. (1981). Uranium in U.S. Surface, Ground and Domestic Waters, United
States Environmental Protection Agency Report EPA-57019-81-001 (Na-
tional Technical Information Service, Springfield,Virginia).
DURFER,C. N.,AND BECKER,E. (1962). uPublic water supplies of the 100
largest cities in the United States," U.S. Geol. SUN. Water Supply Pap.,
1812.
EATON,R. S. (1982). "Radon and radon daughters in public, private and
commercial buildings in communities associated with uranium mining and
processing in Canada," in Second Special Symposium on Natural Radiation
in the Environment (Wiley Eastern Ltd., New Delhi, India).
EDGAR,W. F. (1963). Radium Content of Drinking Water in the Central
Savannah River Area, Dupont de Nemours & Co., Savannah River Plant
Report DPS PU 63-30-10 (National Technical Information Service, Spring-
field, Va.).
EICHHOLZ, G. G., CLARKE,F. J.. AND KAHN,B. (1980). "Radiation exposure
from building materials," page 1331 in Natural Radiation Environment III.,
Gesell, T. F. and Lowder, W. M., Eds., United States Department of Energy
Symposium Series 51 CONF 780422 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice, Springfield, Va.).
EMRICH, G. H., AND LUCAS,H. F., JR.(1963). KGeologicoccurrence of natural
226Rain ground water in Illinois," Bulletin of IASH VIII, No. 3, 5.
EPA (1972). Environmental Protection Agency. "Radioactivity in surface
waters of the Colorado River basin, radium monitoring network, 1968,"
Radiat. Data Rep. 13, 144.
EPA (1979). Environmental Protection Agency. Radiological Impact Caused
by Emissions of Radionuclides into Air in the United States, Preliminary
Report, United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA 52017-79-006
(National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
FRC (1961). Federal Radiation Council. Backgzground Material for the Devel-
opment of Radiation Proteetion Standards, Report No. 2, Staff Report of the
Federal Radiation Council (Government Printing Office, Washington).
FISENNE,I. M., AND KELLER,H. W. (1970). "Radium-226 in the diet of two
U.S. cities," page 1-2 in Health and Safety Laboratory Report HASL-224
(National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
FISENNE,I. M., KELLER,H. W., AND HARLEY,N. H. (1981a). "Worldwide
measurement of '"jRa in human bone: estimate of skeletal alpha dose,"
Health Phys. 40,163.
FISENNE,I. M.,PERRY,P. M.,CHU, N. Y., AND HARLEY,N. H. (1981b).
"Measured 238,2aUand fallout 239.240P~ in human bone ash from Nepal and
Australia: skeletal alpha dose," Health Phys.,
FISENNE,I. M., WELPORD,G. A., PERRY,P. M., BAIRD,R., AND KELLER,H.
W. (1978). "Distributional 2a*238U,226Fia,210Poin soil," Environ. Int. 1,245.
108 / REPERENCE!

FRANCIS,C. W., CHESTERS,G., AND ERHARDT,W. K. (1968). u2'0Polonium

entry in planta," Environ. Sci. and Technol. 2,9.
GEORGE,A. C., AND BRESLIN,A. J. (1980). uThe distribution of ambient
radon daughters in residential buildings in the New York-New Jersey area,"
page 1272 in National Radiation Environment 111, Gesell. T. and Lowder,
W., Ed.,United Statee Department of Energy Symposium Series 51 CONF
780422 (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
GOPAL-AYENGAR, A. R., SUNDARAM, K., AND MISTRY.K. B. (1975). "Current
statue of inveetigations of high background radioa~tivityin the monazite-
bearing arem of the Kerala Coast," in International Symposium on A r m of
High Natural Radioactivity, Cullen, T. L. and Penna Franca, E., Eda,
CONF-75067L (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va).
HALLDEN, N. A., AND HARLEY, J. H. (1964). "Radium-226 in diet and human
bone from San Juan, Puerto Rico," Nature 204,240.
HAMILTON, E. I. (1970). "Uranium content of normal blood," Nature 227,
501.
HAMILTON, E. I. (1972). "The concentration of uranium in man and his diet,"
Health Phye. 22,149.
HARLEY, N. H., AND PA~TERNACK, B. S. (1976). "A comparison of the dose to
cells on trabecular bone surfaces from 5 and mRa based on experimental
alpha absorption measurements," Health Phys. 30,35.
HARLEY, N. H., AND PASTERNACK, B. S. (1979). "Potential carcinogeniceffecte
of actinides in the environment," Health Phys. 37,291.
HARLEY, N. H., AND PASTERNACK, B. S. (1981). "A model for predicting lung
cancer riaks induced by environmental levels of radon daughters." Health
Phys. 40, 307.
HARLEY,N. H., AND PASTERNACK, B. S. (1982). "Environmental radon
daughter alpha dose factors in a five-lobed human lung," Health Phys. 42,
789.
HARLEY,N. H., COHEN,B. S., AND Tso. B. S. (1978). "Polonium-210 in
tobacco," in Radioactivity in Consumer Products, Moghissi, A., Paras, P.,
Carter, M. W. and Barker, R. F., Ecls.. United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commiseion NUREGICP-0001 (National Technical Information Service,
Springfield, Va.).
HEALY,J. W. (1980). "Review of resuspension models," in Tmnsurank Ele-
ments in the Environment, W . C. Hanson, Ed, United States Department
of Energy Report DOE/'TIC-22800 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice. Springfield, Va.).
~ S SC., T., CASPARINS, R. E., NORTON,S. A., AND BRUTSAERT, W. F.
(1980). "Investigation of natural levels of radon 222 in groundwater in maine
for assessment of related health effecte," in Natuml Radiation Environment
111.. Gesell, T. F. and Lowder, W. M., Ede., United States Department of
Energy Symposium Series 51 CONF 780422 (National Technical Informa-
tion Service, Springfield, Virginia).
Hrcmv, J. L. S., AND CAMPBELL, S. D. (1968). "High radium-226 concentra-
tions in U.S. water suppliea," Public Health Report 83,551.
 REFERENCES / 109
HILL,C. R. (1965). "Polonium-210 in man," Nature 208,423.
HOLTZMAN, R. B. (1964). "Lead-210 (RaD) and polonium-210 (RaF) in potable
waters in Illinois," Natural Radiation Environment, Adams, J. A. S. and
Lowder, W. M., Eds. (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago).
HOLTZMAN, R. B. (1967). "Concentrations of the naturally-occurring radio-
nuclides 'lOPb, 2 1 0 P ~and
, 228Rain aquatic fauna," page 82 in Argonne
National Laboratory Radiological Physics Division Annual Report July 1966
through June 1967, Argonne National Laboratory Report ANL 7360 (Na-
tional Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
HOLTZMAN, R. B. (1980). 'Normal dietary levels of ZaeRa,2mRa,'lOPb and
2'0Po for man," page 755 in Natural Radiation Environment 111, Gesell, T.
F. and Lowder, W. M., Eds.,United States Department of Energy Sympo-
sium Series 51 CONF 780422 (National Technical Information Service,
Springfield, Va.).
HOLTZMAN, R. B., AND ILCEWICZ, F. H. (1966). "Lead-210 and polonium-210
in tissues of cigarette smokers," Science 153, 1259.
HURSH,J. B. (1953). 'The radium content of public water supplies," J. Am.
Water Works Assoc. 48.43.
HURSH,J. B., AND SPOOR,N. L. (1973). "Data on man," page 197 in Handbook
of Experimental Pharmacology, Hodge, H. C., Stannard, J. N. and Hursh, J.
B., Ecls., (Springer-Verlag, New York).
ICRP (19778). International Commission on Radiological Protection. Recom-
mendations of the lnternatwnul Commission on Radidogical Protection,
ICRP Publication 26 (Pergamon Press, New York).
ICRP (197%). Problem involved in developing a n Index of Harm, ICRP
Publication 27 (Pergamon Press,New York).
ICRP (1979). International Commission on Radiological Protection. Limits
for Intakes of Radionuclides by Workers, ICRP Publication 30 (Pergamon
Press, New York).
ICRP (1981). International Commission on Radiological Protection. Limits
for Inhalation of Radon Daughters by Workers, ICRP Publication 32 (Per-
gamon Press, New York).
JACKSON, P. O., GLISSMEYER, S. A., ENDERLIN, W.I., SCHWENDIMAN, L. C.,
WOCMAN,N. A., AND PERKINS,R. W. (1980). An Investigation of Radon-
222 Emissions from Underground Uranium Mines, Pacific Northwest Lab-
oratory Report PNL-3262, NUREGICR-1273 (National Technical Infor-
mation Service, Sprin$ield, Ve.).
J o u a , G. (1971). "The thorium series in cigarettes and the lungs of smokers,"
Experientia 27,85.
KAUPMANN, R. F., AND BLISS,J. D. (1977). Effects of Phosphate Minedimtion
and the Phosphate Industry on neRa in Ground Water of Central Florida,
United States Environmental Protection Agency Report EPA/520-6-77-010
(National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
KAUFMANN, R. F., EADIE,G. G., AND RUSSELL,C. R. (1976). "Effects of
uranium mining and milling on ground water in the Grants mineral belt,"
New Mexico Ground Water 1 4 , No. 5.
110 / REFERENCES

KAURANEN, P., AND MIETTINEN,J. K. (1970). "Polonium and radiolead in

some aqueous ecosystems in Finland," in Radioactive Foodchains in the
Subartic Environment, New York Operations Office Report NYO-3445-14
(National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
KEATON,H., NALL,J., A N D MCNALLY,W. (1981). Radiological Analysis of
Public Drinking Water Wells in a Phosphate Mining Region, Polk County
(Florida) Health Department.
KNIGHT,G . B., AND MAKEPEACE, C.E. (1980). "Modifications of the natural
radionuclide distribution by some human activities in Canada," page 1494
in Natural Radiation Environment IZI, Gesell, T. and Lowder, W., Eds.,
United States Department of Energy Symposium Series 51 CONF 780422
(National Technical lnformation Service, Springfield, Va.).
LETOURNEAU, E. G., MAO,Y., MCGREGOR,R. G., SEMENCIAW, R., SMITH,
M. H., WIGLE, D. T. (1983). "Lung cancer mortality and indoor radon
concentrations in 18 Canadian cities," Presented at the 16th Midyear
Topical Meeting of the Health Physics Society-Epidemiology Applied to
Health Physics, Albuquerque, NM., January 9-13,1983.
LETOURNEAU, E. G., AND WIGLE,D. T. (1980). "Mortality and indoor radon
daughter concentrations in 13 Canadian cities," presented a t Specialists
Meeting on the Assessment of Radon and Daughter Exposures and Related
Biological Effects, Rome, March, 1980.
LETOURNEAU, E. G., MCGREGOR, R. G., AND TANIGUCHI, H. (1979). "Back-
ground levels of radon and radon daughters in Canadian homes," page 167
in Proceedings of the Specialists Meeting on Personal Dosimetry and Area
Monitoring Suitable for Radon and Daughter Products (Nuclear Energy
Agency, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris).
LLOYD,E. (1981a). "Radiation dose to the cells at risk for the induction of
bone tumors by bone-seeking radionuclides," in USDOE Report ANL-80-
115, Radiological and Environmental Research Division Annual Report
Center for Human Radiobiology, July 1979 - June 1980.
LLOYD,L. L. (1981b). Butte Radiation Study, Montana Department of Health
and Environmental Sciences, Report to the 1981 Montana Legislature.
LOWDER,W. M., CONDON,W. J., A N D BECK,H. L. (1964). "Field spectro-
metric investigations of environmental radiation in the United States."
Natural Radiation Environment, Adams, J. A. S. and Lowder, W. M., Eds.
(Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago).
L u c ~ s H.
, F., JR. (1960). "Correlation of the natural radioactivity of the
human body to that of its environment," page 55 in Argonne Nationol
Laboratory Radiological Physics Division Semi-Annual Report, Argonne Na-
tional Laboratory Report ANL6297 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice. Springfield, Va.).
LUCAS,H. F., JR., EDGINGTON, D. N., AND MARKUM, F. (1970). "Natural
thorium in human bone," Health Phys. 19,739.
MCCULLOUGH, R. S., LETOURNEAU, E. G., A N D WAIGHT,P. J. (1981). "A four
factor model for estimating human radiation exposure to radon daughters
in the home," Health Phys. 40,299.
 REFERENCES / 111

MCDOWELL-BOYER, L. M., WATSON, A. P., A N D TRAVIS,C. C. (1979). Review

and Recommendations of Dose Conversion Factors and Environmental
Transport Parameters for 2'0Pband 22BRa, United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Report NUREG/CR-0574 (National Technical Information
Service, Springfield, Va.).
MCGREGOR, R. G. (1979). "Background levels of radon and radon daughters
in homes in the Castlegar-Trail area of British Columbia," (unpublished
report).
MCGREGOR, R. G., A N D GOURGON, L. A. (1980). "Radon and radon daughters
in homes utilizing deep well water supplies, Halifax County, Nova Scotia,"
J. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 25.
MCGREGOR, R. G., VASUDEV, P., LETOURNEAU, E. G., MCCULLOUGH, R. S.,
PRANTL,F. A., AND TANIGUCHI, H. (1980). "Background concentrations of
radon and radon daughters in Canadian homes," Health Phys. 39,285.
MIYAKE, Y., SUGIMURA, Y., A N D TSUBOTA,H. (1964). "Content of U, Ra and
Th in river waters in Japan," Natural Radiation Environment, Adams, J. A.
S. and Lowder, W. M., Eds. (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago).
MORSE,R. S., AND WELFORD,G. A. (1971). "Dietary intake of '''Pb," Health
Phys. 21.53.
MUTH,H., RAJEWSKY, B., HANTKE, J. H., AND AURAND, K. (1960). "Normal
radium content and the '=Ra/Ca ratio of various foods, drinking water and
different organs and tissues," Health Phys. 2, 239.
MYERS,D. K., A N D STEWART, C. G. (1979). "Some health aspects of Canadian
uranium mining," page 368 in Conference/ Workshop on Lung Cancer Epi-
demiology and Industrial Applications of Spectrum Cytology (Colorado School
of Mines Press, Golden, Colorado).
NAS/NRC (1980). Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations
of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. The
Effects on Populations of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiations:
1980. (National Academy of Sciences, Washington).
NCHS (1979). National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the
United States-1975, United States Public Health Service Report 79-1114
(Government Printing Office, Washington).
NCRP (1971). National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Basic Radiation Protection Criteria, NCRP Report 39 (National Council on
Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland).
NCRP (1975). National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Natural Background Radiation in the United States, NCRP Report No. 45
(National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda,
Maryland).
NCRP (1984a). National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.
Evaluation of Occupational and Environmental Exposures to Radon and
Radon Daughters, NCRP Report No. 78 (National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland). (In press).
NCRP (1984b). National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements,
The Risk System for Radiution Protection, Report of NCRP Scientific
112 / REFERENCES
Committee 1, (in preparation).
NEA (1979). Nuclear Energy Agency. Exposure to Radiation from the Natural
Radioactivity in Building Materials, Report by an NEA group of experts
(NEA, OECD, Paris).
OWEN,M. (1980). Yoriginof bone cells in the postnatal organism," Arthritis
Rheum. 23,1073.
PARFENOV, Y. D. (1974). "Polonium-210 in the environment and in the human
organism," At. Energy Rev. 12 (International Atomic Energy Agency,
Vienna).
PENNA-FRANCA, E., COSTA-RIBIERO, C., AND CULLEN,P. (1972). "Natural
radioactivity in Brazil," in Natural Radiatwn Environment ZI,Adams, J . A.
S., Lowder, W. M. and Gesell, T. F., Eds.. U.S. Energy Research and
Development Agency Report CONF-720805 (National Technical Informa-
tion Service, Springfield, Va.).
PETROW,H. G., SCHIESSLE, W. J., AND COVER.A. (1965). "Dietary intake of
22BRa,"page 1 in Radioactivity Studles, New York Operations Office Report
NYO-3086-1 (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
REMY,M. L., AND PELLERIN, P. (1968). "Radioactivite naturelle de 250 sources
hydrominerales francaises," SCPRI Report Number 117.
RICHARDSON, K. A., DARNLEY, A. G., AND CHARBONNEAU, B. W. (1972).
"Airborne gamma-ray spectrometric measurements over the Canadian
shield," in Natural Radiation Enuironment If, Adams. J . A. S., Lowder, W.
M, and Gesell, T. F., Eds., United States Energy Research and Development
Administration Report CONF-720805 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice, Springfield, Va.).
RPC (1980). Radiation Policy Council. Report on the Task Force on Radon
in S t ~ c t u r e sUnited
, States Radiation Policy Council Report RPC-80-002
(Government Printing Office, Washington).
RUNDO,J., MARKUN.F., PLONDKE,N. J.. SHA.J. Y., AND &SLING, M. A.
(1982). "Some aspects of radon and its daughter products in man and his
environment," in Second Specbl Symposium on Natural Radiation in the
Environment (Wiley Eastern Ld, New Delhi, India).
SASSER,M. K., AND WATSON,S. E., JR. (1978). "Radon concentration in
North Carolina groundwater supplies," Health Phys. 34,667.
SCHLENKER, R. A., KEANE,A. T.,AND HOLTZMAN,R B. (1982). "The
retention of Ra-226 in human soft tissue and bone: implications for the
ICRP 20 alkaline earth model," Health Phys. 42,671.
Scorn, A. (1979). "Comment on seasonal fluctuation in equilibrium fraction,"
2nd Workshop on Radon and Radon Daughters in Urban Communities
Associated with Umnium Mining and Processing (Bancroft, Ontario).
S C ~R. , C. (1962). "Radium in natural waters in the United States," page
237 in Radioecology (American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington
or Reinhold Publishing Co., New York).
SCOW, R. C., AND BARKER,F. B. (1962). Data on Uranium and Radium in
Ground Water in the United States, Geol. Survey Profess. Paper No. 426.
 REFERENCES / 113
SCOTT-RUSSELL,R. (1066). Radioactivity and Human Diet (Pergamon Press,
New York).
SHEARER, S. D., JR.,AND SILL, C. W. (1969). "Evaluation of atmospheric
radon in the vicinity of uranium mill tailings," Health Phys. 17.77.
SMITH,B. M., GRUNE,W. N., HIGGINS,F. B., JR., AND TEX~RILL, J. G., JR.
(1961). Natural radioactivity in ground water supplies in Maine and New
Hampshire, J. Am. Water Works Assn. 63.75.
SPENCER,H., HOLTZMAN, R. B., KRAMER,L., AND ILCEWICZ, F. H. (1977).
"Metabolic balances of 'lOPb and 2'oPo at natural levels," Radiat. Res. 69,
166.
SPURGEON, D. (1976). "Eldorado radiates hope," Nature 260,278.
STEHNEY, A. F., AND LUCAS,H. F., JR.(1950). "Studies on the radium content
of humans arising from the natural radium of their environment," page 49
in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy: Proceedings of Internutiod Conference,
Geneva, Vol. 11. (United Nations, New York).
STEINHAEUSLER, F., HOFFMAN,W., AND POHL,E. (1975). "Urban natural
radioactivity in Salzburg, Austria," presented at the Third European Con-
gress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA), Am-
sterdam, May, 1975, CONF 750518 (National Technical Information Ser-
vice, Springfield, Va.).
SUOMELA, M., AND KAHLOS,H. (1972). "Studies on the elimination rate and
the radiation exposure following ingestion of "'Rn rich water," Health Phys.
23.641.
SUTCLIFFE, H., JR., AND MILLER,R. L. (1981). Data on Ground Water Quality
with Emphasis on Radionuelides, Sarasota County, Florida, U.S. Geological
Survey-Open-file Report 80-1223.
SWEDJEMARK, G. A. (1980)."Radioactivity in houses built of aerated concrete
based on alum shale," presented a t Specialists Meeting on the Assessment
of Radon and Daughter Exposure and Related Biological Effects, Rome,
March, 1980.
SWEDJEMARK, G. A. (1981). "Buildings with enhanced radioactivity in Swe-
den," presented a t the Second Special Symposium on Natural Radiation
Environment, Bombay.
TANIGUCHI, H. (1977). "Radon-222 and its daughters in buildings at Uranium
City, Saskatchewan," page 141 in Radon Workshop,Februwy, 1977, Breslin,
A. J.. Ed., Health and Safety Laboratory Report HASL 325 (National
Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
TANIGUCHI, H., AND VASUDEV, P. (1978). "Radon and radon daughters due
to natural uranium occurrences in a rural Ontario community," page 1623
in Naturd Radiation Environment III, Gesell, T. and Lowder, W., Eds.,
Department of Energy Symposium Series 51. CONF 780422 (National
Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
TRACY,B. L., PRANTL,F. A., A N D QUINN,J. M. (1982). "Transfer of "'Ra,
'"Pb and uranium from soil to garden produce; assessment of risk," Unpub-
lished Report.
114 / 10. REFERENCES

T s r v o c ~ o uE.
, C., SHEARER, S. D., SHAW,R. M., JR.,JONES,J. D., ANDER-
SON, J. B., SPONACLE, C. E., AND CLARK,D.A. (1959). S u r ~ e y oI?L&rs.kZ&
f
Pollution of the Animus River (Colorado - New Mexico) (National Technical
Information Service, Springfield, Va.).
TSo, T. C., HALLDEN, N. A., A N D ALEXANDER, L. T. (1964). "Redium-226
and 2'0Po in leaf tobacco and tobacco soil, " Science 146, 1043.
?'so, T. C., HARLEY,N. H., AND ALEXANDER, L. T. (1966a). 'Radium-226
and "'Po in burley and cigar wrapper tobacco," Tob. Sci. 10, 105.
TSO, T. C., HARLEY,N. H.,AND ALEXANDER, L. T. (1966b). " S O U ~ofC 210Pb
~
and 210Poin tobacco," Science 153,880.
TURNER,R. C., RADLEY,J. M., AND MAYNEORD, W. V. (1958). 'The naturally
occurring alpha ray activity of food," Health Phys. 1,268.
UNSCEAR (1977). United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effecte of
Atomic Radiation. Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation (United Na-
tions, New York).
UNSCEAR (1982). United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
Atomic Radiation. Ionizing Radiation: Sources and Biological Effects(United
Nations, New York).
VANMIDDLESWORTH, L. (1980). 'Radium and thorium with barium in mi-
cmnodules of cattle thyroids," page 832 in Natural Radiation Environment
III, Gesell, T. F. and Lawder, W. M., Eds., United States Department of
Energy Symposium Series 51. CONF-780422 (National Technical Infor-
mation Service, Springfield, Va.).
VON DOBELN,W., AND LINDELL,B. (1964). "Some aspects of radon contam-
ination following ingestion," Arkiv for Fyeik 27.531.
WELFORD,G. A., AND BAIRD,R. (1967). "Uranium levels in human diet and
biological materials," Health Phye. 13, 1321.
WELFORD,G. A., BAIRD,R., AND FISENNE,I. M. (1976). "Concentration of
natural uranium in the human body," 10th Midyear Topical Symposium-
Health Physics Society-Natural Radioactivity in Man'e Environment-Sar-
atoga Springs; N.Y. October 11-13, 1976.
WOCMAN,N. A., BRODZINSKI, R. L., AND VANMIDDLESWORTH, L. (1977).
"Radium accumulation in animal thyroid glands-a possible method for
uranium and thorium prospecting," J. Radioand. Chem. 41, 115.
WRENN,M. E..(1975). "Internal dose estimates," International Symposium
on Areas of High Natural Radioactivity, Rio de Janeiro.
ZDEB, M. S. (1977). "The probability of developing cancer," Am. J. Epidem.
106.6.
The NCRP

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements

is a nonprofit corporation chartered by Congress in 1964 to:
1. Collect, analyze, develop, and disseminate in the public interest
information and recommendations about (a) protection against
radiation and (b) radiation measurements, quantities, and units,
particularly those concerned with radiation protection;
2. Provide a means by which organizations concerned with the
scientific and related aspects of radiation protection and of
radiation quantities, units, and measurements may cooperate for
effective utilization of their combined resources, and to stimulate
the work of such organizations;
3. Develop basic concepts about radiation quantities, units, and
measurements, about the application of these concepts, and about
radiation protection;
4. Cooperate with the International Commission on Radiological
Protection, the International Commission on Radiation Units
and Measurements, and other national and international orga-
nizations, governmental and private, concerned with radiation
quantities, units, and measurements and with radiation protec-
tion.
The Council is the successor to the unincorporated association of
scientists known as the National Committee on Radiation Protection
and Measurements and was formed to carry on the work begun by the
Committee.
The Council is made up of the members and the participants who
serve on the eighty one Scientific Committees of the Council. The
Scientific Committees, composed of experts having detailed knowledge
and competence in the particular area of the Committee's interest,
draft proposed recommendations. These are then submitted to the full
membership of the Council for careful review and approval before
being published.
The following comprise the current officers and membership of the
Council:
115
116 / THE NCRP

President
Vice President
Secretary and Treasurer
Assistant Secretary
Assistant Treasurer

Members
SEYMOUR ABRAHAMSON JAMESG. KEREIAKES
S. JAMES ADELSTEIN CHARLESE. LAND
ROY E. ALBERT THOMAS A. LINCOLN
EDWARD L. ALPEN RAYD. LLOYD
JOHNA. AUXIER ARTHURC. LUCAS
WILLIAM J. BAIR CHARLES W. MAYS
JOHND. BOICE,JR. ROGER0.MCCLELLAN
VICTORP. BOND JAMESMCLAUGHLIN
ROBERTL. BRENT BARBARA J. MCNEIL
ANTONEBROOKS CHARLES B. MEINHOLD
REYNOLD F. BROWN MORTIMER L. MENDELSOHN
THOMAS F. BUDINGER WrLLUM E. MILLS
MELVIN W. CARTER DADEW. MOELLER
GEORGEW. C A S A R ~ A. ALANMOGHISSI
RANDALLS. CASWELL PAULE. MORROW
ARTHURB. CHILTON ROBERTD. MOSELEY, JR
GERALD DODD JAMESV. NEEL
PATRICIA W. DURBIN WESLEY NvBoRG
JOEA. ELDER FRANK PARKER
MORTIMER M. ELKIND ANDREWK. POZNANSKI
THOMAS S. ELY NORMAN C. RASMUSSEN
EDWARD R. EPP WILLIAMC. REINIG
R. J. MICHAELFRY CHESTERR. RICHMOND
ROBERTA. GOEPP JAMEST. ROBERTSON
BARRY B. GOLDBERG LEONARD A. SAGAN
ROBERT0.GORSON GLENNE. SHELINE
DOUGLAS CRAHN ROYE. SHORE
ARTHURW. GUY WARRENK. SINCLAIR
ERICJ. HALL LEWISV. SPENCER
JOHNH. HARLEY JOHNB. STORER
NAOMIHARLEY ROYC. THOMPSON
JOHNW. HEALY JAMESE. TURNER
JOHNM. HESLEP ARTHURC. U ~ N
SEYMOUR JABLON GEORGEL. VOELZ
DONALD G. JACOBS EDWARD W. WEBSTER
A. E v e m JAMES, JR. GEORGEM. WILKENING
BERNDKAHN H. RODNEY WITHERS
 THE NCRP / 117
Honorary Members
LAURISTON
S. TAYLOR,Honorary President

Currently, the following subgroups are actively engaged in formu-

lating recommendations:

SC-1: Basic Radiation Protection Criteria

SC-3: Medical X-Ray. Electron Beam and Gamma-Ray Protection for Energies
Up to 50 MeV (Equipment Performance and Uae)
SC-16: X-Ray Protection in Dental OEces
SC-18: Standards and Measurements of Radioactivity for Radiological Use
SC-38: Waste Disposal
Task Group on Krypton-=
Task Group on Carbon-14
Task Group on Disposal of Accident Generated Waste Water
Task Group on Disposal of Low-Level Wante
Task Group on the Actinides
Task Croup on Xenon
Biological Aspects of Radiation Protection Criteria
Task Group on Atomic Bomb Survivor Dosimetry
Subgroup on Biological Aspects of Dosimetry of Atomic Bomb Survi-
vors
SC-42: Industrial Applications of X Rays and Sealed Sources
SC-44: Radiation Associated with Medical Examinations
SC-45: Radiation Received by Radiation Employees
SC-46: Operational Radiation Safety
Teak Group 1 on Warning and Pemnnel Security Systems
Task Group 2 on Uranium Mining and Milling-Radiation Safety Pro-
grams
Task Group 3 on ALARA for Occupationally Exposed Individuals in
Clinical Radiology
Task Group 4 on Calibration of Instrumentation
Instrumentation for the Determination of Dose Equivalent
Apportionment of Radiation Exposure
Conce~tualBasis of Calculations of Dose Distributions
~iolo&calEffects and Exposure Criteria for Radiofrequency Electromag-
netic Radiation
Bioassay for Assessment of Control of Intake of Ftadionuclides
Experimental Verification of Internal Dosimetry Calculations
Internal Emitter Standards
118 / THE NCRP

Task Group 2 on Respiratory Tract Model

Task Group 3 on General Metabolic Models
Task Group 4 on Radon and Daughters
Tmk Group 6 on Bone Problems
Task Group 7 on Thyroid Cancer Risk
Task Group 8 on Leukemia Risk
Task Group 9 on Lung Cancer Risk
Task Group 10 on Liver Cancer Risk
Task Group 11 on Genetic Risk
Task Group 12 on Strontium
Task Group 13 on Neptunium
SC-59: Human Radiation Exposure Experience
SC-60: Dosimetry of Neutrons from Medical Accelerators
SC-61: Radon Measurements
SC-62: Priorities for Dose Reduction Efforts
SC-63: Control of Exposure to Ionizing Radiation from Accident or Attack
SC-64: Radionuclides in the Environment
Task Group 5 on Public Exposure to Nuclear Power
Task Group 6 on Screening Models
SC-65: Quality Assurance and Accuracy in Radiation Protection Measurements
SC-67: Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields
SC-68: Microprocessors in Dosimetry
SC-69: Efficacy Studies
SC-70: Quality Assurance and Measurement in Diagnostic Radiology
SC-71: Radiation Exposure and Potentially Related Injury
SC-72: Radiation Protection in Mammography
SC-74: Radiation FZeceived in the Decontamination of Nuclear Facilities
SC-75: Guidance on Rediation Received in Space Activities
SC-76: Effects of Radiation on the Embryo-Fetus
SC-77: Guidance on Occupational and Public Exposure Resulting from Diagnos-
tic Nuclear Medicine Procedures
SC-78: Practical Guidance on the Evaluation of Human Exposures to Radiofre-
quency Rsdiation
SC-79: Extremely Low-Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields
SC-80: Radiation Biology of the Skin (Beta-RayDosimetry)
SC-81: Assessment of Exposure from Therapy
Committee on Public Education
Committee on Public Relations
Ad Hoc Committee on Policy in Regard to the International System of Units
Ad Hoc Committee on Comparison of Radiation Exposures
Study Group on Comparative Risk
Task Croup on Comparative Carcinogenicity of Pollutant Chemicals
Task Force on Occupational Exposure Levels

In recognition of its responsibility to facilitate and stimulate coop-

eration among organizations concerned with the scientific and related
aspects of radiation protection and measurement, the Council has
created a category of NCRP Collaborating Organizations. Organiza-
tions or groups of organizations that are national or international in
 THE NCRP / 119
scope and are concerned with scientific problems involving radiation
quantities, units, measurements and effects, or radiation protection
may be admitted to collaborating status by the Council. The present
Collaborating Organizations with which the NCRP maintains liaison
are as follows:

American Academy of Dermatology

American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American College of Nuclear Physicians
American College of Radiology
American Dental Association
American Industrial Hygiene Association
American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
American Insurance Association
American Medical Association
American Nuclear Society
American Occupational Medical Association
American Podiatry Association
American Public Health Association
American Radium Society
American Roentgen Ray Society
American Society of Radiologic Technologists
American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
Association of University Radiologists
Atomic Industrial Forum
Bioelectromagnetics Society
College of American Pathologists
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Genetics Society of America
Health Physics Society
National Bureau of Standards
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Radiation Research Society
Radiological Society of North America
Society of Nuclear Medicine
United States Air Force
United States Army
United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Labor
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Navy
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
United States Public Health Service

The NCRP has found its relationships with these organizations to

be extremely valuable to continued progress in its program.
Another aspect of the cooperative efforts of the NCRP relates to
the special liaison relationships established with various governmental
120 / THE NCRP

organizations that have an interest in radiation protection and meas-

urements. This liaison relationship provides: (1) an opportunity for
participating organizations to designate an individual to provide liai-
son between the organization and the NCRP; (2) that the individual
designated will receive copies of draft NCRP reports (at the time that
these are submitted to the members of the Council) with an invitation
to comment, but not vote; and (3) that new NCRP efforts might be
discussed with liaison individuals as appropriate, so that they might
have an opportunity to make suggestions on new studies and related
matters. The following organizations participate in the special liaison
program:
Defense Nuclear Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
National Bureau of Standards
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Office of Technology Assessment
United States Air Force
United States Army
United States Coaat Guard
United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Health and Human Services
United Statee Department of Labor
United States Department of Traneportation
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Navy
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The NCRP values highly the participation of these organizations in

the liaison program.
The Council's activities are made possible by the voluntary contri-
bution of time and effort by its members and participants and the
geilerous support of the following organizations:
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Alliance of American Insurere
American Academy of Dental Radiology
American Academy of Dermatology
American Aesociation of Phyeicists in Medicine
American College of Radiology
American College of Radiology Foundation
American Dental Asmiation
American Industrial Hygiene Association
American Insurance Association
American Medical Association
American Nuclear Society
American Occupational Medical h i a t i o n
 THE NCRP / 121
American Osteopathic College of Radiology
American Podiatrv Association
American Public Health Association
American Radium Society
American Roentgen Ray Society
American Society of Radiologic Technologists
American Society of Therapeutic Radiologiste
American Veterinary Medical Aseociation
American Veterinary Radiology Society
Association of University Radiologists
Atomic Industrial F O N ~
Battelle Memorial Institute
College of American Pathologists
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Defense Nuclear Agency
Edison Electric Institute
Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation
Electric Power Research Institute
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Florida Institute of Phosphate Research
Genetics Society of ~ m e i c a
Health Physics Society
Jamea Picker Foundation
National Association of Photographic Manufacturers
National Bureau of Standards
National Cancer Institute
National Center for Medical Devices and Radiation Health
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Radiation Research Society
Radiological Society of North America
Society of Nuclear Medicine
United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Labor
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Navy
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

To all these organizations the Council expresses its profound appre-

ciation for their support.
Initial funds for publication of NCRP reports were provided by a
grant from the James Picker Foundation and for this the Council
wishes to express its deep appreciation.
The NCRP seeks to promulgate information and recommendations
based on leading scientific judgment on matters of radiation protection
and measurement and to foster cooperation among organizations
concerned with these matters. These efforts are intended to serve the
public interest and the Council welcomes comments and suggestions
on its reports or activities from those interested in ita work.
NCRP Publications
NCRP publications are distributed by the NCRP Publications'
office. Information on prices and how to order may be obtained by
directing an inquiry to:

NCRP Publications
7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 800
Bethesda, Md 20814
The currently available publications are listed below.

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting

No. Title
1 Perceptions ofRisk, Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual
Meeting, Held on March 14-15, 1979 (Including
Taylor Lecture No. 3) (1980)
2 Quuntitative Risk in Stundurds Setting, Proceedings of
the Sixteenth Annual Meeting, Held on April 2-3,
1980 (Including Taylor Lecture No. 4) (1981)
3 Critical Iss7les in Setting Radiation Dose Limits, Proceed-
ings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting, Held on April
8-9, 1981 (Including Taylor Lecture No. 5) (1982)
4 Radiation Protection and New Medical Diagnostic Proce-
dures, Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Meeting,
Held on April 6-7, 1982 (Including Taylor Lecture
No. 6) (1983)
5 Environmental Radioactivity, Proceedings of the Nine-
teenth Annual Meeting, Held on April 6-7, 1983
(Including Taylor h c t u r e No. 7) (1984)
6 Some Issues Important in Developing Basic Radiation
Protection Recommendations, Proceedings of the
Twentieth Annual Meeting, Held on April 4-5, 1984
(Including Taylor lecture No. 8) (1985)
7 Radioactive Waste, Proceedings of the Twenty-first
Annual Meeting, Held on April 3-4, 1985 (Including
Taylor Lecture No. 9) (1986)
 NCRP PUBLICATIONS 1 123
8 Nonionizing Electromagnetic Radiation and Ultrasound,
Proceedings of the Twenty-second Annual Meeting,
Held on April 2-3,1986 (Including Taylor Lecture No.
10) (1988)
9 New Dosimetry at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Its
Implications for Risk Estimates, Proceedings of the
Twenty-third Annual Meeting, Held on April 5-6,
1987 (Including Taylor Lecture No. 11)(1988).
10 Radon, Proceedings of the Twenty-fourth Annual Meet-
ing, Held on March 30-31,1988 (Including Taylor Lec-
ture No. 12) (1989).
11 Radiation Protection Today-The NCRP at Sixty Years,
Proceedings of the Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting, Held
on April 5-6, 1989 (Including Taylor Lecture No. 13)
(1990).

Symposium Proceedings

The Control of Exposure of the Public to Ionizing Radiation i n the

Event of Accident or Attack, Proceedings of a Symposium held April
27-29, 1981 (1982)

Lauriston S. Taylor Lectures

No. Title and Author

1 The Squares of the Natural Numbers i n Radiation Protec-
tion by Herbert M. Parker (1977)
2 Why be Quantitative About Radiation Risk Estimates?
by Sir Edward Pochin (1978)
3 Radiation Protection-Concepts and Trade Offs by
Hymer L. Friedell (1979:)[Available also in Perceptions
of Risk, see above]
4 From "Quantity of Radiation" and "Dose" to "Exposure"
and "Absorbed Dosey'-An Historical Review by Harold
0.Wyckoff (1980) [Available also in Quantitative Risks
i n Standards Setting, see abovel
5 How Well Can We Assess Genetic Risk? Not Very by
James F. Crow (1981) [Available also in Critical Issues
i n Setting Radiation Dose Limits, see abovel
6 Ethics, Trade-offs and Medical Radiation by Eugene L.
Saenger (1982) [Available also in Radiation Protection
and New Medical Diagnostic Approaches, see abovel
 NCRP PUBLICATIONS
The Human Environment-Past, Present and Future by
Merril Eisenbud (1983) [Available also in Environ-
mental Radioactivity, see abovel
Limitation and Assessment in Radiation Protection by
Harald H. Rossi (1984) [Available also in Some Issues
Important in Developing Basic Radiation Protection
Recommendations, see above]
Truth (and Beauty) in Radiation Measurement by John
H. Harley (1985) [Available also in Radiwctive Waste,
see above]
Nonionizing Radiation Bioeffects: Cellular Properties
and Intemctwns by Herman P. Schwan (1986) [Avail-
able also in Nonionizing Electromagnetic Radiations
and Ultrasound, see abovel
How to be Quantitative about Radiation Risk Estimates
by Seymour Jablon (1987) [Available also in New
Dosimetry at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and its Zmplica-
twns for Risk Estimates, see abovel
How Safe is Safe Enough? by Bo Lindell(1988) [Avail-
able also in Radon, See above]
Radiobiology and Radiation Protection: The Past Cen-
tury and Prospects for the Future by Arthur C. Upton
(1989) [Available also in Radiation Protection Today--
The NCRP at Sixty Years, See abovel
Radiation Protection and the Internal Emitter Saga by
J . Newel1 Stannard (1990)
NCRP Commentaries
No. Title
1 Krypton-85 in the A tmosphere-With Specific Reference
to the Public Health Significance of the Proposed Con-
trolled Rekase at Three Mile Island (1980)
Preliminary Evaluation of Criteria fir the Disposal of
Transumnic Contaminated Waste (1982)
Screening Techniques for Determining Compliance with
Environmental Standards (19861, Rev. (1989)
Guidelines for t h Rekase
~ of Waste Water from Nuclear
Facilities with Special Reference to the Public Health
Significance of the Proposed R e h e of Twated Waste
Waters at Three Mile Island (1987)
Living Without Landfills (1989)
Radon Exposure of the U.S. Population-Status of the
Problem (1991)
 NCRPPUBLICATIONS / 125
NCRP Reports

No. Title
8 Control and Removal of Radioactive Contamination in
Laboratories (1951)
Maximum Permissible Body Burdens and Maximum Per-
missible Concentrations of Radionuclides in Air and
in Water for Occupational Exposure (1959) [Includes
Addendum 1 issued in August 19631
Measurement of Neutron Flux and Spectra for Physical
and Biological Applications (1960)
Measurement ofAbsorbed Dose of Neutrons and Mixtures
of Neutrons and Gamma Rays (1961)
Stopping Powers for Use with Cavity Chambers (1961)
Safe Handling of Radioactive Materials (1964)
Radiation Protection in Educational Institutions (1966)
Dental X-Ray Protection (1970)
Radiation Protection in Veterinary Medicine (1970)
Precautions in the Management of Patients Who Have
Received Therapeutic Amounts of Radionuclides (1970)
Protection Against Neutron Radiation (1971)
Protection Against Radiation from Brachytherapy
Sources (1972)
Specifications of Gamma-Ray Brachytherapy Sources
(1974)
Radiological Factors Affecting Decision-Making in a
Nuclear Attack (1974)
Krypton-85 in the Atmosphere-Accumulation, Biologi-
cal Significance, and Control Technology (1975)
Alpha-Emitting Particles in Lungs (1975)
Tritium Measurement Techniques (1976)
Structural Shielding Design and Evaluation for Medical
Use of X Rays and Gamma Rays of Energies Up to 10
MeV (1976)
Environmental Radiation Measurements (1976)
Radiation Protection Design Guidelines for 0.1 -1 00 MeV
Particle Accelerator Facilities (1977)
Cesium-137 fhom the Environment to Man: Metabolism
and Dose (1977)
Review of NCRP Radiation Dose Limit for Embryo and
Fetus in Occupationally Exposed Women (1977)
Medical Radiation Exposure of Pregnant and Potentially
Pregnant Women (1977)
NCRP PUBLICATIONS

Protection of the Thyroid Gland in the Event of Releases

of Radioiodine (1977)
Instrumentation and Monitoring Methods for Radiation
Protection (1978)
A Handbook of Radioactivity Measurements Procedures,
2nd ed. (1985)
Operational Radiation Safety Progmm (1978)
Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties of Radio-
cerium Relevant to Radiation Protection Guidelines
(1978)
Radiation Safety Training Criteria for Industrial
Radiography (1978)
Tritium i n the Environment (1979)
Tritium and Other Radionuclide Labeled Organic Com-
pounds Incorporated i n Genetic Material (1979)
Influence of Dose and Its Distribution in Time o n Dose-
Response Relationships for Low-LET Radiations (1980)
Management of Persons Accidentally Contaminated with
Radionuclides (1980)
Mammography (1980)
Radiofreqency Electromagnetic Fields-Properties,
Quantities and Units, Biophysical Interaction, and
Measurements (1981)
Radiation Protection i n Pediatric Radiology (1981)
Dosimetry of X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Beams for Radia-
tion Therapy in the Energy Range 10 keV to 50 MeV
(1981)
Nuclear Medicine-Factors Influencing the Choice and
Use of Radionuclides i n Diagnosis and Therapy (1982)
Operational Radiation Safety-Training (1983)
Radiation Protection and Measurement for Low Voltage
Neutron Generators (1983)
Protection i n Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound Diag-
nostic Procedures in Children (1983)
Biological Effects of Ultrasound: Mechanisms and Clin-
ical Implications (1983)
Iodine-129: Evaluution of Releases from Nuclear Power
Generation (1983)
Radiological Assessment: Predicting the Transport,
Bioaccumulation, and Uptake by Man ofRadionuclides
Released to the Environment (1984)
Exposures from the Uranium Series with Emphasis on
Radon and its Daughters (1984)
 NCRP PUBLICATIONS 1 127
Evaluation of Occupational and Environmental Expo-
sures to Radon and Radon Daughters in the United
States (1984)
Neutron Contamination from Medical Electron Acceler-
ators (1984)
Induction of Thyroid Cancer bylonizing Radiation (1985)
Carbon-14 in the Environment (1985)
SI Units in Radiation Protection and Measurements (1985)
The Experimental Basis for Absorbed-Dose Calculations
in Medical Uses of Radionuclides (1985)
General Concepts for the Dosimetry of Internally Depos-
ited Radionuclides (1985)
Mammography-A User's Guide (1986)
Biological Effects and Exposure Criteria for Radiofre-
quency Electromagnetic Fields (1986)
Use of Bioassay Procedures for Assessment of Internal
Radionuclide Deposition (1987)
Radiation Alarms and Access Control Systems (1987)
Genetic Effects of Internally Deposited Radionuclides
(1987)
Neptunium: Radiation Protection Guidelines (1987)
Recommendations on Limits for Exposure to Ionizing
Radiation (1987)
Public Radiation Exposure from Nuclear Power Genera-
tion in the United States (1987)
Ionizing Radiation Exposure of the Population of the
United States (1987)
Exposure of the Population in the United States and Can-
ada from Natural Background Radiation (1987)
Radiation Exposure of the U.S. Population from Con-
sumer Products and Miscellaneous Sources (1987)
Comparative Carcinogenesis of Ionizing Radiation and
Chemicals (1989)
Measurement ofRadon and Radon Daughters in Air (1988)
Guidance on Radiation Received in Space Activities (1989)
Quality Assurance for Diagnostic Imaging (1988)
Exposure of the U.S. Population from Diagnostic Medical
Radiation (1989)
Exposure of the U.S. Population From Occupational
Radiation (1989)
Medical X-Ray, Electron Beam and Gamma-Ray Protec-
tion For Energies Up To 50 MeV (Equipment Design,
Performance and Use) (1989)
128 / NCRP PUBLICATIONS
103 Control of Radon in Houses (1989)
104 The Relative Biological Effectiveness ofRadiutiolbs ofDif-
ferent Qualities (1990)
105 Radiation Protection for Medical and Allied Health Per-
sonnel (1989)
106 Limits of Exposure to "Hot Particles" on the skin (1989)
107 Implementation of the Principle ofAs Low As Reasonably
Achievable (ALARA) For Medical and Dentul Person-
nel (1990)
108 Conceptual Basis for Calculations of Absorbed-Dose Dis-
tributions
Binders for NCRP Reports are available. Two sizes make it possible
to collect into small binders the "old series" of reports (NCRP Reports
Nos. 8-30) and into large binders the more recent publications
(NCRP Reports Nos. 32-108). Each binder will accommodate from
five to seven reports. The binders c a n y the identification "NCRP
Reports" and come with label holders which permit the user to attach
labels showing the reports contained in each binder.
The following bound sets of NCRP Reports are also available:
Volume I. NCRP Reports Nos. 8,22
Volume 11. NCRP Reports Nos. 23,25,27,30
Volume ID.NCRP Reports Nos. 32,35,36,37
Volume IV. NCRP Reports Nos. 38,40,41
Volume V. NCRP Reports Nos. 42,44,46
Volume VI. NCRP Reports Nos. 47,49,50,51
Volume VII. NCRP Reports Nos. 52,53,54,55, 57
Volume VIII. NCRP Reporta No. 58
Volume IX. NCRP Reports Nos. 59,60,61,62,63
Volume X. NCRP Reports Nos. 64,65,66,67
Volume XI. NCRP Reports Nos. 68,69,70,71,72
Volume XII. NCRP Reports Nos. 73,74,75,76
Volume XIII. NCRP Reporta Nos. 77,78,79,80
Volume XIV. NCRP Reports Nos. 81,82,83,84, 85
Volume XV. NCRP Reports Nos. 86,87,88,89
Volume XVI. NCRP Reports Nos. 90,91,92,93
Volume XVII. NCRP Reports Nos. 94,95,96,97
Volume XVIII. NCRP Reports Nos. 98,99,100
Volume XIX. NCRP Reports Nos. 101, 102,103,104
(Titles of the individual reports contained in each volume are given
above).
The following NCRP Reports are now superseded andlor out of
print:
 NCRP PUBLICATIONS 1 129
No. Title
1 X-Ray Protection (1931). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 31
Radium Protection (1934). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 41
X-Ray Protection (1936). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 61
Radium Protection (1938). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 131
Safe Handling of Radioactive Luminous Compounds
(1941). [Out of Printl
MedicalX-Ray Protection Up to Two Million Volts (1949).
[Superseded by NCRP Report No. 181
Safe Handling of Radioactive Isotopes (1949). [Super-
seded by NCRP Report No. 301
Recommendations for Waste Disposal of Phosphorus32
and Iodine-131 for Medical Users (1951). [Out of Printl
Radiological Monitoring Methods and Instruments
(1952). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 571
Maximum Permissible Amounts of Radioisotopes in the
Human Body and Maximum Permissible Concentra-
tions in Air and Water (1953). [Superseded by NCRP
Report No. 221
Recommendations for the Disposal of Carbon-14 Wastes
(1953). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 811
Protection Against Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60
and Cesium-137 (1954). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 241
Protection Against Betatron-Synchrotron Radiations
Up to 100 Million Electron Volts (1954). [Superseded
by NCRP Report No. 511
Safe Handling of Cadavers Containing Radioactive Iso-
topes (1953). [Superseded by NCRP R e p r t No. 211
Radioactive Waste Disposal in the Ocean (1954). [Out of
Printl
Permissible Dose from External Sources of Ionizing
Radiation (1954) including Maximum Permissible
Exposure to Man, Addendum to National Bureau of
Standards Handbook 59 (1958). [Superseded by NCRP
Report No. 391
X-Ray Protection (1955). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 261
Regulation of Radiation Exposure by Legislative Means
(1955). [Out of Printl
130 / NCRP PUBLICATIONS

Protection Against Neutron Radiation Up to 30 Million

Electron Volts (1957). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 381
Safe Handling of Bodies Containing Radioactive lsotopes
(1958). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 371
Protection Against Radiations from Sealed Gamma
Sources ( 1960). [Superseded by NCRP Report Nos. 33,
34, and 401
Medical X-Ray Protection Up b Three Million Volts (1961).
[Superseded by NCRP Report Nos. 33,34,35, and 361
A Manual of Radioactivity Procedures (1961). [Super-
seded by NCRP Report No. 581
Exposure to Radiation in a n Emergency (1962). [Super-
seded by NCRP Report No. 421
Shielding for High Energy Electron Accelerator Installa-
tions (1964). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 511
Medical X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Protection for Energies
up to 10 MeV-Equipment Design and Use (1968).
[Superseded by NCRP Report No. 1021
Medical X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Protection for Energies
U p to 10 MeV-Structural Shielding Design and Eval-
uution (1970). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 491
Basic Radiation Protection Criteria (1971). [Superseded
by NCRP Report No. 911
Review o f t h e Current State of Radiation Protection Phi-
losophy (1975). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 911
Natural Background Radiation i n the United States
(1975). [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 941
Radiation Protection for Medical and Allied Health Per-
sonnel [Superseded by NCRP Report No. 1051
Radiation Exposuref?om ConsumerProducts and Miscel-
laneous Sources (1977). [Superseded by NCRP Report
No. 951
A Handbook on Radioactivity Measurement Procedures.
[Superseded by NCRP Report No. 58, 2nd ed..]

Other Documents

The following documents of the NCRP were published outside of

the NCRP Reports and Commentaries series:
"Blood Counts, Statement of the National Committee on Radiation
Protection," Radiology 63, 428 (1954)
 NCRP PUBLICATIONS / 131
"Statements on Maximum Permissible Dose from Television Receiv-
ers and Maximum Permissible Dose to the Skin of the Whole
Body," Am. J. Roentgenol., Radium Ther. and Nucl. Med. 84, 152
(1960) and Radiology 75, 122 (1960)
Dose Effect Modifying Factors In Radiation Protection, Report of
Subcommittee M-4 (Relative Biological Effectiveness) of the
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements,
Report BNL 50073 (T-471) (1967) Brookhaven National Labora-
tory (National Technical Info~~nation
Service, Springfield, Virginia).
X-Ray Protection Standards for Home Television Receivers, Interim
Statement of the National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements (National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements, Washington, 1968)
Specification of Units of Natural Uranium and Natural Thorium
(National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements,
Washington, 1973)
NCRP Statement on Dose Limit for Neutrons (National Council on
Radiation Protection and Measurements, Washington, 1980)
Control 0fAirEmission.s ofRadionuclides (National Council on Radi-
ation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, Maryland, 1984)

Copies of the statements published in journals may be consulted

in libraries. A limited number of copies of the remaining documents
listed above are available for distribution by NCRP Publications.
Index
Additivity, 84 Drinking Water, 44-47,49,51,53,54
Agricultural Uae of Land. 90,101 Lead-210,54
Air Cleaning, 41 Radium, 47
Body Content, Uranium, 63, 64 Tables, 46, 49
Table, 64 Radon, 51
Body Content, Radium. 64 Table, 53 .
Table, 66 Uranium, 45
Body Content, Lead-210.65 Table, 46
Bone Cancer Risk, 78
Bone Dosimetry, 65,66 Elevated Natural Radioactivity, 4, 22, 23,
Building Materials. Radioactivity, 21,22 26,31, 32,45, 49,58, 59, 62
Table, 22 Dietary Intake, 58,59,62
External Radiation, 22
0x11 Burning, Releases. 18 Radon, 26.31.32
Table. 18 Water, 45,49,52
Cosmic Radiation, 3 Enhanced Natural Radioactivity, 4,23.26.
28,47,50,52,58,59,62
Dietary Intake. 6 , 6 6 4 1 Dietary Intake, 58.59.62
Lead-210.61 External Radiation, 23
Tables, 58,60,61 Radon, 26,28
Radium, 59 Water, 47,50,52
Tablee, 58, 60.61 Exposure Distribution, 81.83
Uranium, 57 Approach to Standard-Setting, 81
Table, 57 External Radiation, 83
D w , Bone. 65-68. 71,81 Radon Daughters, 81
Tables, 66,68, 71, 81 Table, 83
Dose, Lung, 42, 79,80 External Radiation, 3,5, 19,20,22,23, 78,
Table, 80 83
Dose, Natural Background, 2 , 3 Dose, 3,78
Table, 3 Tables, 3, 78
Dose, Whole Body, 3, 5, 69, 70 Dose Distribution, 83
Body Potamium, 3 Elevated, 22
h m i c Radiation, 3 Enhanced, 23
Terrestrial Gamma Radiation, 69 Indoor. 20
Table, 70 Outdoor, 19
Doee Factors, Bone, 66.81
Table, 66 Half-Lives, Uranium Series, Chart, 2
Factors, Lung, 42,79
Dose Limitation, 79.84.89 Ingestion
Approach to Standard-Setting, 79 see Dietary Intake
External Radiation, 89 Inhalation, 6,25,42
ICRP,84 Radon Daughters, 25
NCRP, 84 Lead-210.42
Land line,Agriculture, 90, 104 Radon Concentratione (Continued)
Land Uee. Houeing. 90 in Water. 51
Lead-210 (Polonium-2101, 11, 14, 53, 61, Variatione, 33
62 Radon Sources, 13, 15,32
Environmental Behavior, 11, 14 in Buildings, 15,32
in Bone, 61 Radon Daughters (Short-Lived), 10, 25,
in Diet, 61 26, 42,79
in Water. 53 Dosimetry. 42.79
Plant Uptake. 62 Indoor Concentrationa, 26
Soid Content, 62 Outdoor Concentratione, 25
Life Shortening, 76-78 Recommendatione, 87
Radon Daughter Exposure, 76,813 Regulations, 95
Table, 77 Remedial Action, 7.34.55.87.93
Lung Cancer Riek, 75 Radon. 34
Table, 76 Drinking Water, 55
Lung Doemetry, 41.79 Riek, 71
Approach to Standard-Setting, 71,
Measurements, 98 75-79
Bone Cancer. 78
Natural Backgraund, 2 Table, 79
Averega. 2.19 Lung Cancer. 75
Elevated, 4 2 2 Table, 76
Total Cancer, 77
Phosphate Rock, 17,24,28 Table, 78
Mining Areas, 24,28 Rock,Uranium Content, 15.16
Reeiduee, 24.28 Table. 16
Plant Uptake, 14.68.59.63.101
Lead-210.62 Smoking and Lung D m ,67
Radium. 59 Smoking and Lead-210 in the Body,62,63
Uranium, 68 Table, 63
Polonium-210 Soil, 12, 15, 16,22
See Lead-210 Radionuelide Content, Table, 22
Uranium Content, 15
Radium, 10,13,22,47,49,59,60,63,64 Table, 16
Environmental Behavior, 10, 13
in Bone. 63 Units, 7
Graph, 64 Uranium, 9,12,16,46,46,57,58,63,64
in Diet, 58 Environmental Behavior. 9.12
Tablee, 59, 60 in Bone. 63
in Water, 47 Table, 64
Table, 49 in Diet, 57
Plant Uptake, 59 Table. 57
Soil Content, 22.59 in Soil and Rock. Table. 16
Rsdon con cent ratio^, 25.26.29.30, 33, in Water, 45
51 Table. 46
in Indoor Air, 26 Plant Uptake, 58
Table, Canada, 29 Uranium Mining and Milling, 5,17,23
Table, United States, 30 Releaees, 17
in Outdoor Air, 25 Tailings. 17.23
134 1 INDEX
Uranium Seriea, 2.9, 10,12 Water
Decay Energies, Table, 10 see Drinking Water
Decay Scheme, Chart, 2 Whole Body Radiation D m ,3.78, 80
Environmental Behavior, 12 Tables. 3,78
Half-Lives, Chart, 2 Whole Body Radiation Exposure. 19
Whole Body Radiation Risk, 77.78
Ventilation, 41 Table, 78