Season Two Research Files
Episode Three
10:00am-11:00am
EXPOSURE TO PLUTONIUM
Plutonium emits alpha radiation and low-energy x-rays, which are easily absorbed by tissue. The alpha radiation travels only about a quarter of an inch in air and cannot penetrate the skin. Therefore, if plutonium remains outside the body, it is generally not harmful.
Plutonium is very toxic if it enters into the body because the alpha radiation can damage living tissue. The larger the dose in the body, the greater the toxicity. Dangerous human exposure occurs mainly by breathing contaminated air or through an open wound. Although the radioactivity of plutonium is not high, the radiation would be concentrated in a single place. It can remain in the lungs or enter the bloodstream. About 80 percent of the plutonium that enters the bloodstream goes either to the liver or bone. If enough plutonium were to get to the bones, the alpha radiation could harm the bone marrow that produces the body's blood cells, causing leukemia or other bone-marrow related problems. Dose to internal organs due to radioactive material depositing in the organ is spread out over a long period of time. The effects from inhaling plutonium or getting it into the blood stream typically would take many years to occur.
If plutonium is eaten accidentally, it is not readily absorbed into the body because most forms of the substance do not dissolve significantly in water or body fluids. Plutonium entering the digestive tract passes through and is expelled before it has time to cause any significant harm.
Plutonium is a dangerous material, but it is far from being the most dangerous substance in the world. The people who worked on the nuclear weapons produced during World War II have been monitored to see whether they have suffered any health problems from their work. Decades after they handled plutonium, the incidence of lung cancer in one sample of these workers is no higher than in the rest of American society. In fact, the rate of death for those workers (last examined in the early 90s) is much lower than that for same-age white males in general.
< back