Limit on intake of 239Pu in a human body through wound

Currently no estimates of permissible limit for 239Pu intake through wounds in the skin are available, however it is one of the common pathway of the radionuclide intake in a human body. In the article we present the approach to estimating limit for 239Pu intake through a wound with the use of liver and bone cancer lifetime risk estimates. Liver and bone are organs of primary Pu deposition following a wound contamination. To estimate lifetime risks of liver and bone cancer induced as a result of exposure to 239Pu-emitted alpha-particles after single intake through a wound we used results of epidemiological studies of Mayak personnel and risk estimates developed in these studies. Using conservative estimates of excess lifetime risk and radiation doses, the limit for plutonium intake in a human body through a wound, which would not cause increase in annual lifetime risk above 0.001, was calculated. We recommend readers to interpret the results obtained in the present study taking into account that estimates of risk of radiation associated liver and bone cancers are subject to substantial uncertainty.