A new simplified allometric approach for predicting the biological half-life of radionuclides in reptiles

Beresford, NA and Wood, MD 2014, 'A new simplified allometric approach for predicting the biological half-life of radionuclides in reptiles' , Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 138 , pp. 116-121.

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Abstract

A major source of uncertainty in the estimation of radiation dose to wildlife is the prediction of internal radionuclide activity concentrations. Allometric (mass-dependent) relationships describing biological half-life (T1/2b) of radionuclides in organisms can be used to predict organism activity concentrations. The establishment of allometric expressions requires experimental data which are often lacking. An approach to predict the T1/2b in homeothermic vertebrates has recently been proposed. In this paper we have adapted this to be applicable to reptiles. For Cs, Ra and Sr, over a mass range of 0.02-1.5 kg, resultant predictions were generally within a factor of 6 of reported values demonstrating that the approach can be used when measured T1/2b data are lacking. However, the effect of mass on reptilian radionuclide T1/2b is minimal. If sufficient measured data are available for a given radionuclide then it is likely that these would give a reasonable estimate of T1/2b in any reptile species.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Energy Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
Publisher:	Elsevier
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	0265-931X
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	European Commission, University of Salford VC Scholarship
Depositing User:	Prof Mike Wood
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2015 10:48
Last Modified:	10 Aug 2017 02:20
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/33679

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