Invited Editorial: Gut transfer and doses from environmental technetium

摘要

In this issue (pages 21-29), Hunt et al report studies in which volunteers consumed lobster from the coastal area of west Cumbria and measurements were made of the absorption of technetium-99. Previously, Hunt and colleagues (1986, 1990, 1993, 1998) have published measurements of the absorption of plutonium-239/240 and americium-241 from Cumbrian winkles, mussels and cockles, and the naturally occurring alpha emitter, polonium-210, from crabmeat. Their principal motivation has been to improve estimates of radiation doses to specific critical groups of seafood consumers in the coastal communities; in so doing they have provided valuable information for more general assessments of dose and risk.