1.
Health Phys
; 121(1): 73-76, 2021 07 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1232236
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: This work considers the implications of cloth masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic on suspected plutonium inhalations and dose assessment. In a plutonium inhalation scenario, the greater filtration efficiency for large particles exhibited by cloth masks can reduce early fecal excretion without a corresponding reduction in dose. For plutonium incidents in which cloth masks are worn, urinary excretion should be the preferred method of inferring dose immediately after the inhalation, and fecal excretion should be considered unreliable for up to 10 days.