Assessing public health risk in the London polonium-210 incident, 2006

Maguire, Helen; Fraser, Graham C.; Croft, John Henderson and Andrew; Bailey, Michael R.; Tattersall, P.; Morrey, M; Turbitt, Deborah; Ruggles, Ruth; Bishop, Louise; Giraudon, Isabelle; Walsh, B.; Evans, Barry; Morgan, Oliver; Clark, M.; Lightfoot, Nancy; Gilmour, Robin; Gross, Roger; Cox, Robert D.; Troop, Pat

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2010.03.023

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Concern about the possible release of a radiological dispersion device or contamination of food and water supplies has led to increased security and guarding of radioactive materials. Nonetheless, the intentional radiation poisoning and subsequent death of former Russian officer Alexander V. Litvinenko left traces of polonium-210 contamination across London and led to increased anxiety and hysteria for fear of exposure to radiation (1, 2). A similar accidental contamination with cesium-137 from a stolen radiotherapy device from an abandoned clinic in Goiania, Brazil in 1987 led to the screening for contamination of more than 10% of the 1.2 million residents of the area (3, 4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Mouse Urinary Metabolic Profiles after Exposure to the Inflammatory Stressors γ Radiation and Lipopolysaccharide

2012

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Metabolomics on easily accessible biofluids has the potential to provide rapid identification and distinction between stressors and inflammatory states. In the event of a radiological event, individuals with underlying medical conditions could present with similar symptoms to radiation poisoning, prominently nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. Metabolomics of radiation exposure in mice has provided valuable biomarkers, and in this study we aimed to identify biomarkers of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure to compare and contrast with ionizing radiation. LPS treatment leads to a severe inflammatory response and a cytokine storm, events similar to radiation exposure, and LPS exposure can recapitulate many of the responses seen in sepsis. Urine from control mice, LPS-treated mice, and mice irradiated with 3, 8 and 15 Gy of γ rays was analyzed by LCMS, and markers were extracted using SIMCA-P+ and Random Forests. Markers were validated through tandem mass spectrometry against pure chemicals. Five metabolites, cytosine, cortisol, adenine, O-propanoylcarnitine and isethionic acid, showed increased excretion at 24 h after LPS treatment (P < 0.0001, 0.0393, 0.0393, <0.0001 and 0.0004, respectively). Of these, cytosine, adenine and O-propanoylcarnitine showed specificity to LPS treatment when compared to radiation. On the other hand, increased excretion of cortisol after LPS and radiation treatments indicated a rapid systemic response to inflammatory agents. Isethionic acid excretion, however, showed elevated levels not only after LPS treatment but also after a very high dose of radiation (15 Gy), while additional metabolites showed responsiveness to radiation but not LPS. Metabolomics therefore has the potential to distinguish between different inflammatory responses based on differential ion signatures. It can also provide quick and reliable assessment of medical conditions in a mass casualty radiological scenario and aid in effective triaging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Mouse Urinary Metabolic Profiles after Exposure to the Inflammatory Stressors γ Radiation and Lipopolysaccharide

2012

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“…Of these, 974 were successfully interviewed and 787 invited to provide a 24-h urine specimen. A urine collection was obtained and analysed for 753 individuals 2. Twenty-six individuals tested were excluded from the epidemiological analysis because they were tested >74 days after the last possible date of exposure; one had a non-classifiable test result.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only a small number were identified with an assessed committed dose >1 mSv (the permitted annual exposure for members of the public),10 and no one was identified with evidence of ARS 2 8…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contaminated locations identified were investigated by specialists in environmental monitoring and in modelling of radiological risks and toxicity to assess whether exposures of people at these locations could pose significant risks to health. These investigations resulted in identification of 11 locations where risk assessment of individuals associated with them was considered necessary on public health grounds 1 2…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Epidemiology of internal contamination with polonium-210 in the London incident, 2006

Fraser¹,

Giraudon²,

Cohuet

et al. 2011

J Epidemiol Community Health

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“…E. I Shabana et al in their study suggested that about 30% of the 210 Po in the blood samples of Saudi smokers can be attributed to the usage tobacco products (Shabana, Abd Elaziz, Al-Arifi, Al-Dhawailie, & Al-Bokari, 2000). Importance of polonium toxicity and associated radiation risk assessment can be so enormous that nearly 1024 residents were identified and scrutinized for possible potential risk of internal contamination due to exposure to contaminated environments in London in an incident of polonium poisoning in 2006 (Maguire et al, 2010). International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified 210 Po as a Group 1 human carcinogen (IARC, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of 210Po concentration in commercially available infant formulae and assessment of daily ingestion dose

Prabhath

Sreejith

Nair

et al. 2015

Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences

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Po 209 Po tracer Daily dose a b s t r a c t A study has been conducted to estimate the concentration of natural radioactive polonium in commercially available packaged infant food formulae available in Mumbai, India and the corresponding daily dose normalized based on its shelf life. Eleven most popular international brands of infant formulae were sourced from market and three aliquots from each sample were analysed for concordant results. Autodeposition method onto a silver planchet from hot dilute acid solution followed by alpha spectrometry was performed for estimation of polonium. Radiochemical recovery was ascertained by the addition of 209 Po tracer. Radiochemical recovery of 209 Po tracer was ranged from 14.7 to 98.1 %. The 210 Po concentration in the samples was in the range of 0.08e0.23 Bq kg À1 on measured date and the corresponding daily dose, calculated on normalized date which is at mid-point of the shelf life of the sample, was ranged from 0.04 to 0.89 mSv d À1 as per the recommended daily consumption. The annual committed effective dose estimated based on the average of daily dose was found to be 150 mSv.

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Assessing public health risk in the London polonium-210 incident, 2006

Cited by 20 publications

References 5 publications

Comparison of Mouse Urinary Metabolic Profiles after Exposure to the Inflammatory Stressors γ Radiation and Lipopolysaccharide

Comparison of Mouse Urinary Metabolic Profiles after Exposure to the Inflammatory Stressors γ Radiation and Lipopolysaccharide

Epidemiology of internal contamination with polonium-210 in the London incident, 2006

Determination of 210Po concentration in commercially available infant formulae and assessment of daily ingestion dose

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