Human bones obtained from routine joint replacement surgery as a tool for studies of plutonium, americium and 90Sr body-burden in general public

Abstract The paper presents a new sampling method for studying in-body radioactive contamination by bone-seeking radionuclides such as 90 Sr, 239+240 Pu, 238 Pu, 241 Am and selected gamma-emitters, in human bones. The presented results were obtained for samples retrieved from routine surgeries, namely knee or hip joints replacements with implants, performed on individuals from Southern Poland. This allowed to collect representative sets of general public samples. The applied analytical radiochemical procedure for bone matrix is described in details. Due to low concentrations of 238 Pu the ratio of Pu isotopes which might be used for Pu source identification is obtained only as upper limits other then global fallout (for example Chernobyl) origin of Pu. Calculated concentrations of radioisotopes are comparable to the existing data from post-mortem studies on human bones retrieved from autopsy or exhumations. Human bones removed during knee or hip joint surgery provide a simple and ethical way for obtaining samples for plutonium, americium and 90 Sr in-body contamination studies in general public.