The biokinetics and dosimetry of radon-222 in the human

body following ingestion of groundwater

D.J. Crawford-Brown
Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carotin&
Chapel Hill, NC 27516-7400, USA

Abstract
This paper presents a general model for the biokinetics of Rn-222 in the adult human body following ingestion
of the radon in water. Such a model is needed for the calculation of doses which would result from the ingestio.q
of radon, a natural component of drinking water supplies. Information on the movement and concentration of
xenon in the body was obtained from a separate study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital. This
information was used to develop a model of radon kinetics in the body and estimates were obtained of the rate
constants associated with transfer between the various body compartments. The model was then used to
develop estimates of the dose equivalent delivered to each tissue or organ of the body following ingestion of
1 Bq of radon in water. From the reported results, it appears that the stomach receives a much larger dose
equivalent than other organs and tissues, followed in order by the other segments of the gastro-intestinal or GI
tract, the liver, the lungs and the general body water compartment. A comparison is made between these doses
and the doses delivered as a result of exposure to airborne radon.

translocation of 222Rnfrom the gastro-intestinaI or GI tract

Introduction
Humans are exposed daily to radiation from a number of
geological sources. These sources have been divided into
the categories of external terrestrial radiation and internal
terrestrial radiation and have focused on radiations from the
uranium, thorium and actinium decay chains and on
radioactive K and Ru. Fairly recently, however, attention
has shifted from these multiple sources to the isolated
radionuclide 222Rn. This shift has been the result of
findings that geological sources of 222Rn may produce a
risk far in excess of the risks calculated for other terrestrial
radionuclides. By way of comparison, the annual dose
equivalent from geological sources other than 22~Rn is less
than 1 mSv (NAS, 1980), while that due to 222Rn alone is
20 to 30 mSv/year in the United States (NCRP, 1984).
Because of the dominance of 222Rn as a source of risk due
to naturally occurring radionuclides, it has become the
focus of increasing regulatory concern.
One route by which humans are exposed to 222Rn
may be found in water supplies. Recent data
(Crawford-Brown and Cothem, 1987) indicate that highly
elevated concentrations of 222Rn (greater than 37,000
Bq/m3) may be present in a significant number of US water
supplies, particularly supplies of groundwater. While the
risk from this source of water arises primarily from
inhalation after the 222Rn has escaped from the water into
a house, an additional route of risk may lie in direct
ingestion of the water.
Unfortunately, only rough estimates of the risk from
ingestion of 222Rn may be made at the present. This
situation arises from a lack of detailed information on the
and into the body tissues and organs. While several past
studies of the biokinetics and dosimetry have been
published (Anderson and Nilsson, 1964; Andreev, I963;
Hursh et al., 1965; Soumela and Kahlos, 1972; Von Dobeln
and LindeU, 1964), they focus primarily on whole- body
retention rather than on the individual organs. In addition,
these past studies have not developed a general predictive
model for the biokinetics of 222Rn in the body. To
understand better the behaviour of 222Rnin the body, the
US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) contracted
Dr Jack Correia of Massachusetts General Hospital to
conduct a detailed study of the movement of xenon (a
chemical analogue of radon) through the body following
ingestion. The concentration of xenon in each organ was
then converted to an estimate of the equivalent radon
concentration through the use of relative solubility
coefficients for the two elements (Correia, personas
communication).
The (as yet unpublished) study by Correia used a
gamma camera to follow the movement of xenon through
each subject. Approximately 103 cm3 of saline solution,
containing between 4x107 and 2x108 Bq of 133Xe, was
administered through a straw. The subjects then rested in a
supine position md were positioned below an imaging
camera. The area density of gammas emerging from each
organ was then determined at selected times throughout the
study, with each image being collected for approximately
5 to 30 seconds. The image time was increased to 60
seconds after several hours. The proporfionaIity constant
relating areal density in the image and organ concentration
was determined from the areal density in the stomach
 D.J. Crawford-Brown 1t

Table 1 Summary of concentration functions*

Stomach
C(t) = 8.5 x 107 [0.998 exp(-0.029t) + 0.002 exp(-0.0026t)]
Small intestine
C(t) = 8.1 x 106 [0.9 exp(-0.02t) + 0.1 exp(-0.0045t)]
{1 - exp(0.099t)}
Ascending colon
C(t) = 4.8 x 106 [0.85 exp(-0.015t) + 0.15 exp(-0.006t)]
{1 - exp(-0.099t)}
Descending colon
C(t) : 1.1 x 106 [exp(-0.0048t)] {! - exp(-0.099t) }
Liver
C(t) = 1.1 x 106 [0.87 exp(-0.022t) + 0.13 exp(-0.0039t)]
Muscle
C(t) = 3.7 x 105 [exp(-0.0029t)] {1 - exp(-0.2310 }
Fat
C(t) = 3.7 x 105 [exp(-0.005t)] { 1 - exp(-0.099t) }
Whole body
C(t) = 3.7 x 106 [0.92 exp(-0.022t) + 0.08 exp(-0.00350]

* Concentration is in units of Bq/cm 3.

immediately after ingestion when the concentration of at shorter times. The purpose of the present report is to
133Xe is known. Some loss of the 133Xe may have occurred summarise these data in a general model of the biokinetics
immediately after ingestion, thereby introducing an of 222Rn in the human body and to apply this model to
unknown degree of error in the process of calibration. calculations of the doses received by individuals ingesting
Concentration in each organ was then converted to an 222R n in water.
equivalent concentration of 2Z2Rn through multiplication
by the ratio of solubility coefficients for the two
Modelling Considerations
radionuclides.
To date, a total of 22 ingestion studies have been Figures 1 to 7 display the concentration of 22XRn in each
conducted. The organs imaged are the stomach, small organ or dssue as a function of time. The measurement
intestine, ascending colon, descending colon, liver, muscle, results were fitted to a series of exponential functions
fat and the whole body (including the GI tract). For most through a linear fit to the log-transformed data. In most
of the individuals in the study only a subset of these organs organs, the curves were analysed into two components,
was measured. A summary of the measurement results may which should not be interpreted as two distinct
be found in Figures 1 to 7. Only individuals with data physiological compartments. All organs except the
extending to 400 minutes or greater were used in generating d e s c e n d i n g colon, muscle and fat showed two
these figures, due to the presence of a relatively long-lived compartments, with these three organs or tissues displaying
compartment for the 22ZRnwhich could not be discerned a single component. In addition, the curves for the small
intestine, ascending colon, descending colon, muscle and
Table 2 Compartmental masses and volumes for the fat display an initial period of time in which the
model. concentration rises. This period corresponds to the time
required for 222Rn to equilibrate in these organs.
Organ Assumed mass or volume A summary of the fitted equations describing separate
organ concentrations may be found in Table 1. In each case,
Stomach 400 grams the concentration function contained within the square
Small intestine 1,040 grams brackets has been normalised to unity at time equal to zero.
Upper large intestine 430 grams Following these brackets is an expression detailing the
Lower large intestine 295 grams accumulation in the organ. Table 1 also provides (in front
Portal blood, lung, of the brackets) the scaling factors needed to convert the
liver 3,000 grams compound functions into normalised estimates of organ
Body tissue 55,000 grams concentration. These factors have been chosen to yield a
Lung airspace volume 4,300 cm 3 total of 3.7x107 Bq in the stomach at time equal to zero.
Lung minute volume 7,500 cm3/minute Organ masses assumed in the present study may be found
in Table 2.
All values in this table are specific to the adult male, and Quantitatively, Figures 1 to 7 display a pattern of
have ben taken from the 1975 ICRP Publication 23, 222Rn movement expected from theoretical considerations
Reference Man, Pergamon Press, Oxford. and past studies (Andersson and Nilsson, 1972; Von
12 Biokinetics and dosimetry of radon-222

1.0-
"W
t-

()
\
\
0.1- \

t- O\ \
O
~d
c"
0..
(D
0
t-
"o., o
o
O
0.01
t-
O Q_ Q -----
rr

-.,.._

0.001 -

0.0001 i i i l l l .... 2._ l I t t .l. ~

0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 560 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 1 The data and fitted retention curves for the whole-body (open circles) and fat (circles marked by diagonal
lines). The dotted lines represent the empirical retention functions as determined by a best fitting exponential function
(or functions). The concentrations are in arbitrary relative units. To obtain the actual organ concentration (Bq/cm3)
following ingestion of 37 kBq of radon, the reader should multiply the relative units by 3.7 x 10 , The same comments
apply to Figures 2 to 7.

I0.0 -

N,q
<
v
t--
0 x',, \
"E
r

'- 0.1
o0

t-
O

rr"

0.01

-0-+ 0 ---0-

0.001 I I I 1 I I I I I f I ' -

0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 2 The data (open circles), fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line).
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the stomach.
 D J. Crawford-Brown 13

Io[
"b t-..
< O.
0

O
0
0
o 0.0
0 0...
~S
"- 0---
0---

0.001

0.0001 - l i i I I I, I I I I I I I _..J
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320:560 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 3 The data (open circles), fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line).
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the~small intestine.

oF
0.1
<

0
, m

o
0 O.OIq
o
C
0

0.001

0,0001 i I t I I I I I I I I I I I
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 520 560 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 4 The data (open circles), fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line).
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the ascending colon.
14 Biokinetics and dosimetry of radon-222

I.O -

t-

O.I --
<
o

t-

o
c-
o o.o, - - 0
0
t-
O ~ 0 O-
'o
rr

0.001

0.0001 1 I I I 1 I I I I I I I ____[__L.__.J
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 520 560 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 5 The data (open circles),fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line),
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the descending colon.

J.O "-"
"G
t-

K',

0.1
(

=o
o 0.01
0
t-
O

0.001
o do-

0.0001 i i t , ~ I _ i j ~ M I i __J
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 520 560 400 440 480 520 560 600
Time (minutes)

Figure 6 The data (open circles), fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line).
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the liver and portal blood.
 D J. Crawford-Brown 15

o.f[-
!

<
G
o

E
0
o
o.oo -/
o
G
o

0.0001

0.00001 l L I I I t I ~ l 1 1 i I t 1
0 40 80 120 160 2 0 0 2 4 0 2 8 0 520 5 6 0 4 0 0 4 4 0 4 8 0 520 560 6 0 0
Time (minutes)

Figure 7 The data (open circles), fitted exponential retention function (dotted line) and model prediction (solid line).
The model predictions refer to Figure 8 and Table 3. The organ is the general body tissue.

Dobeln and Lindell, 1964). A primary removal half-time of

30 to 70 minutes is evident, with most of the organs
displaying a mean time of about 30 minutes. A secondary
component with a half-time of between 120 and 250
minutes is also evident in most of the organs. In addition,
Stomach the 222Rn appears to equilibrate quickly with the liver and
Airspace
portal blood, since the maximum concentration in the liver
is established within 5 minutes or less. This agrees well
with previous studies (Hursh et al., 1965), which suggests
G - that the 222Rn equilibrates within 5 to 15 minutes after
ingestion. Exceptions are found in the fat, muscle and
Small
intestines, since the maxima in these organs are not reached
Portal Intestine Until about 30 minutes. This suggests that the 222Rn follows
E Blood, a path from the stomach into the blood stream and small
General ~-
Liver, B intestines, followed by rapid movement into the liver and
Body F
Lung lung airspace, with less rapid movement into the other body
Tissue Upper
Tissue organs and tissues.
Large The source of the long-term component of retention
Intestine is taken in this study to be represented by movement from
the general body tissues. Von Dobein and Lindell (1964)
222
concluded that Rn solubility in fat is increased over that
in water by at least an order of magnitude. This possibility
Lower
has been borne out by direct observation (Nussbaum and
Large Hursh, 1957) in which the distribution coefficient in body
Intestine fat was measured to be an order of magnitude above that
in other body tissues. There is no clear evidence in the
Figure 8 The general biokinetics model for radon in the present study, however, to suggest that fat and general body
body as used in this study. water (or tissues) constitute separate compartments, at least
16 Biokinetics and dosimetry of radon-222
to the extent that they should be treated separately in the
design of a biokinetics model. These components of the
body, therefore, will be viewed in this study as constituting
a single compartment. It seems reasonable to conclude that
the shorter half-time (30 to 70 minutes) is associated with
dilution from the stomach into the larger compartments of
the body, and that the longer half-time is associated with
exchange between the general body tissues (fat and water)
and the blood.
A conceptual model of the biokinetics of 222Rn was
developed and is shown in Figure 8. It will be noticed that
the model contains the segments of the GI tract, a central
compartment consisting of the portal blood and liver (plus
some lung tissue), and a side exchange compartment
containing all body water not found in the portal blood and
liver. The masses associated with each of the assumed
compartments are presented in Table 2. The masses for the
GI tract segments include the contribution from the
contents. In addition, it is assumed that the segments of the
GI tract are also included in the general exchange
compartment. In other words, the GI tract comes into
equilibrium with the general body water after the initial
intake has spread throughout the body.
The volumetric air exchange rate for the alveolar
region of the lung has been taken to be 7.5 litres/minute, as
suggested by the ICRP (1972). The airspace comes quickly
into equilibrium with the alveolar blood, and remains at a
concentration equal to a fixed fraction of that found in the
blood at all times. It is assumed that the 222Rn moves from
the GI tract into the bloodstream, where it is carried rapidly
to the liver and lungs. Some of the 222Rn in the blood also
enters the general body water compartment, where it
distributes uniformly. This suggests that the blood and liver
maintain the highest concentration after the 222Rn has left
the GI tract, with the general body water being at a lower
concentration until the initial burden of 222Rn has been
cleared from the GI tract. After this time, the concentration
in the portal blood and liver fall below that of the general
body water, since the concentration in the blood no longer
is supported by an influx of 222Rn from the GI tract.
The data contained in Figures 1 to 7 were used in
conjunction with the model displayed in Figure 8 to
develop estimates of the various transfer rate constants
found in the model. The resulting rate constants, found by
maximising the fit of the model to all compartmental data
simultaneously, may be discerned in Table 3. The model
prediction may also be seen in Figures 1 to 7. It should be
borne in mind that these rate constants were obtained
through the use of the masses found in Table 2, and are
specific to these masses. They also are the product of the
theoretical analysis performed here, and have not been
verified experimentally.
Calculation of Organ Doses
The doses delivered to the separate organs may be
calculated using either the empirical functions in Table 1
or the general model as developed above. Since the former
equations are more simple to integrate and provide a good
fit to the data, they will be used here for dosimetric
purposes. The following calculations assume an ingestion
Table 3 A summary of transfer rate constants for the
metabolic model for radon in the human body.
Pathway Rate constant (rain-1)
A 0.015
B 0.005
C 0.005
D 0.025
E 0.033
F 0.010
G 0.167
H 1.740
Refer to Figure 8 for the specification.
of 1 Bq of radon in drinking water.
In general, let Ci(t) be the concentration of 222Rn in
organ i at time t. The integral of this concentration from
zero to t is referred to as the integral organ burden, Bi, and
may be computed as:
t
Bi = k~Ci(t) dt (1)
0
Assuming a tissue density of lg/cm 3, the dose equivalent,
Hi, is equal to:
Hi = Bi x 60 x 19.9 x 1.6 x 10"!~ x 20 (2)
In this expression, 19.9 MeV is the total alpha energy
released by 222Rn and its resuttingl~rogeny radionuclides
(5.49 + 6.70 + 7.96), while 1.6 x 1O is aconversion factor
from MeV/g to Gy. The factor of 20 (ICRP, 1977) is the
quality factor used to convert estimates of dose (Gy) into
estimates of dose equivalent (Sv). The unit of Hi is then Sv.
The present calculations assume that all of the
progeny produced by a decay of 222Rn remain at the site
of their production and decay at that site. This choice was
made on the basis of the radiological half-times for the
progeny, which are short compared to the half-times of
biological removal for the progeny. A possible problem
could arise in computing doses to the stomach wall, where
the concentration of 22TRn in the wail was assumed equal
to that in the contents. The progeny might be swept from
the wall once they have been produced.
In the case of the lung, a slightly different dosimetric
approach was used. Past studies (Hursh et al, 1965) had
indicated that at least 95 percent of the ingested 222Rn
leaves the body through exhalation. The dose to the lung,
therefore, was calculated by assuming that 95 percent of
ingested 222Rn entered the alveolar airspaces and was
exhaled. The model of the lung used for dosimetric
purposes has been reported elsewhere (Crawfbrd-Brown,
1987) and will not be repeated here. The dose delivered to
the lung then arises from two sources: decays of 222Rn
which occur within the lung tissue and decays which occur
in the airspaces. As shown elsewhere (Crawford-Brown,
 D.J. Crawford-Brown
1987), the dose equivalent from the latter source is
approximately 1.3x109 Sv/Bq of ingested 222Rn. The dose
equivalent delivered by decays within the lung tissue
depends upon whether the lung tissue is at the
concentration of the portal blood (liver) or the general body
tissues. Due to movement from the lung tissue into the
airspaces, the correct dose equivalent is likely to lie
between the two values. If the former assumption is
adopted (concentration equal to portal blood), the total dose
equivalent to the lung would be 8.5x10 -9 Sv/Bq of ingested
222Rn. If the latter assumption is adopted, the dose
equivalent would be 2.24x10 Sv/Bq.
The concentration functions in Table 1 were used
with equation (2) to calculate the dose equivalent to each
organ. A summary of those estimates may be found in
Table 4. It will be noted that the stomach wall receives the
highest dose equivalent, being at least an order of
magnitude above the other organs. The dose equivalent to
the general body tissues is lower than that to the stomach
by a factor of more than 500. The risk clearly will be
dominated by considerations of the lung, liver and GI tract.
Conclusions
The present study represents a systematic attempt to
develop a general model for the movement of 222Rn in the
body. While past studies have not produced such models,
they have yielded estimates of the dose equivalent to some
body organs. It is of interest to note, therefore, that the
estimates of dose equivalent to the stomach and general
tissues from past studies (cited earlier) are in substantial
agreement with those of the present study, assuming equal
quality factors are employed. For example, the dose
equivalent to the general tissues in these studies ranged
from 2.7x10 -1~ to 3.8xi0 -9 Sv/Bq, while the stomach dose
equivalent averaged approximately 1 Sv/Bq (see Crawford-
Brown, 1987b).
It also is of interest to note that the risk imposed on
adults by ingestion of 222Rn in water is significantly below
that imposed by the emanation of the 222Rn from the water
into home air or by other geological sources of 222Rn in the
home. For exa2r~2~le,the dose equivalent to the lung from
all sources of " Rn in the house is calculated to be in the
neighbourhood of 20 to 30 roSy/year. Ifa house uses water
containing 37 kBq/m3, the dose equivalent to the lung
(Crawford-Brown and Cothem, 1987) ~om this source
alone would be approximately 2 or 3 roSy/year. By
contrast, this same water would produce a dose equivalent
to the lung of less than 0.2 roSy/year, assuming an intake
of 2 litres of water/day. The dose equivalent to the
stomach's wails, however, would be approximately 8
mSV/year. While ingestion is not the primary route by
which 222Rn contained in water will exert a risk to humans,
it remains at least a significant source of exposure. This
will be particularly true in houses in which the primary
222
source of airborne Rn is the water supply rather than the
surrounding soil, rocks and building materials.
Acknowledgements
The author would lie to recognise several individuals or
groups who aided in this work. The data on which the
oresent study w ~ based were collected bv Dr Jack Correia
17
Table 4 Dose equivalent to the body organsfollowing
radon ingestion.
Stomach 3.0 x 10-7 Sv/Bq
Liver 6.8 x 10"9 Sv/Bq
Small intestine 4.6 x 10-9 Sv/Bq
Upper large intestine 3.3 x 10-8 Sv/Bq
Lower large intestine 1.9 x 10-8 Sv/Bq
General dssue 5.4 x 10-10 Sv/rBq 9 *
Lungs between 2.24 x 10-9 and 8.5 x 10- Sv/Bq
The largest number assumes the lung tissue is at a
concentration equal to that of the liver, while the lower
number assumes that the lung tissue is at a concentration
equal to that of the general tissue.
at Massachusetts General Hospital. The work itself was
funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency
through a sub-contract with the Dynamac Corporation.
Special thanks go to Ms Delores Plummet for quick typing.
The results of the study are the sole responsibility of the
author and do not represent the opinions of the US
Environment Protection Agency.
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