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Study of worker’s exposure to Tantalum-bearing particles in a mining and metallurgical plant

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess worker exposure to mineral dust particles, and a metabolic model, based on the model adopted by ICRP, was applied to assess human exposure to Ta, and predicted values of Ta concentrations in excreta. The occupational exposure to Th, U, Nb, and Ta-bearing particles during routine tasks to obtain Fe-Nb alloys was estimated using air samplers and excreta samples. Ta concentrations in food samples and in drinking water were also determined. The results support that workers were occupationally exposed to Ta-bearing particles, and also indicate that a source of Ta exposure for both workers and the control group was the ingestion of drinking water containing soluble compounds of Ta. Therefore, some Ta compounds should be considered soluble compounds in gastrointestinal tract. Consequently, the metabolic model based on ICRP metabolic model and/or the transfer factor f 1 for Ta should be reviewed and the solubility of Ta compounds in gastrointestinal should be determined.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mineração Catalão de Goiás for the support during the sample collection and CNPq and PRONEX for financial support. This work is in memoriam to Prof. Carlos Vieira de Barros Leite, Physics Department PUC-Rio, Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    K. Moore Dias da Cunha & A. A. Hecht

  2. Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    K. C. Dalia Pereira & J. R. D. Guimarães

  3. Dept. de Física, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RIO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    C. Lima & J. E. C. Nascimento

  4. Instituto de Energia Nuclear, IEN/CNEN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    R. Lima

  5. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Instituto Militar de Engenharia, IME, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    J. C. B. Fiel

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  1. K. Moore Dias da Cunha
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  2. K. C. Dalia Pereira
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Correspondence to K. Moore Dias da Cunha.

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da Cunha, K.M.D., Dalia Pereira, K.C., Guimarães, J.R.D. et al. Study of worker’s exposure to Tantalum-bearing particles in a mining and metallurgical plant. Environ Geochem Health 40, 2037–2048 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-016-9849-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-016-9849-6

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