Dose Assessment and Treatment of Exposed People

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention has published a document on the topic of biomonitoring for uranium exposure (CDC 2013). The document includes a brief introduction on the properties of uranium, its presence in the environment, and sources of possible exposure. This is followed by information on biomonitoring, mainly the results of measurement of the uranium level in urine samples of unexposed populations and some of the special cases that were discussed in this chapter. The document concludes with the following statement Biomonitoring studies on levels of uranium provide physicians and public health officials with reference values so that they can determine whether people have been exposed to higher levels of uranium than are found in the general population. Biomonitoring data can also help scientists plan and conduct research on exposure and health effects (CDC 2013). 

The estimation of the uranium body burden is derived from combining the results of the bioassays with the biokinetic models that deal with internal exposure. Very few estimates of the total body burden and the distribution among the different body organs in humans have been published. As mentioned earlier, one publication estimated the total uranium content in a human body as being 40 pg, with approximately 40% in 

The health effects of uranium are often compared with those of lead, so as a final conclusion of this chapter we bring the following quote  

Metallic lead has considerably higher toxicity than metallic uranium... Lead within the body affects the nervous system and several biochemical processes, while the uranyl ion does not readily interfere with any major biochemical process except for depositing in the tubules and glomeruli of kidney, where damage may oeeur at high concentration. 

Institute of Toxicology Environmental Health University of California 

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