Plutonium from above-ground nuclear tests in milk teeth: investigation of placental transfer in children born between 1951 and 1995 in Switzerland.

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Title
Plutonium from above-ground nuclear tests in milk teeth: investigation of placental transfer in children born between 1951 and 1995 in Switzerland.
Journal
Environmental Health Perspectives
Author(s)
Froidevaux P., Haldimann M.
ISSN
0091-6765
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2008
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
116
Number
12
Pages
1731-1734
Language
english
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Occupational risks, the present nuclear threat, and the potential danger associated with nuclear power have raised concerns regarding the metabolism of plutonium in pregnant women. OBJECTIVE: We measured plutonium levels in the milk teeth of children born between 1951 and 1995 to assess the potential risk that plutonium incorporated by pregnant women might pose to the radiosensitive tissues of the fetus through placenta transfer. METHODS: We used milk teeth, whose enamel is formed during pregnancy, to investigate the transfer of plutonium from the mother's blood plasma to the fetus. We measured plutonium using sensitive sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. We compared our results with those of a previous study on strontium-90 ((90)Sr) released into the atmosphere after nuclear bomb tests. RESULTS: Results show that plutonium activity peaks in the milk teeth of children born about 10 years before the highest recorded levels of plutonium fallout. By contrast, (90)Sr, which is known to cross the placenta barrier, manifests differently in milk teeth, in accordance with (90)Sr fallout deposition as a function of time. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that plutonium found in milk teeth is caused by fallout that was inhaled around the time the milk teeth were shed and not from any accumulation during pregnancy through placenta transfer. Thus, plutonium may not represent a radiologic risk for the radiosensitive tissues of the fetus.
Keywords
Female, Humans, Infant, Mass Spectrometry, Maternal-Fetal Exchange, Nuclear Energy, Plutonium, Pregnancy, Switzerland, Tooth, Deciduous
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Web of science
Create date
16/01/2009 18:29
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:17
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