CONCLUSIONS 8.4 Chemical Toxicity Based on an Occupational Exposure Standard (OES) of 0.2 mg m’? uranium in air recommended by the Health and Safety Executive and a breathing rate of 1.2 m? ht assumed by ICRP; based on an 8-hour working day the daily intake should not exceed about 2 mg. This indicates that whilst dally restrictions on the inhalation of 20% and 5% enriched uranium should be based on chemical toxicity, annual intakes for all enrichments must be based on dose, It is considered that nephrotoxic effects from inhalation are unlikely due to the constraints imposed by radiation dose. Nephrotoxic effects from wound contamination might occur if more than about 8 mg Is absorbed into the blood from the wound site. For ingestion these effects might occur if about 10 mg is swallowed frequently. CONCLUSIONS From the results of this study it is concluded that committed effective doses of 6 mSv could result from annual intakes by inhalation of 10-25 kBq uranium isotopes in the form of uranyl fluoride or 3-4 kBq in the form of uranium tetrafluoride. Depending on the degree of enrichment (range 93% to 5% ?U considered) these activities correspond to masses of 5-200 mg and 1-40 mg respectively. Hence the possibility of annual intakes resulting in doses greater than 6 mSv cannot be excluded simply by consideration of the mass involved. Annual intakes of uranium by inhalation for all enrichments should be limited by radiation dose, but except for high (93%) enrichments, daily intakes should be constrained by consideration of chemical toxicity. For contaminated wounds it was calculated that committed effective doses of 6 mSv could result from uptake to blood of about 2 kBq uranium isotopes. Depending on the degree of enrichment this corresponds to masses of 1-20 mg uranium. However, since only a fraction of the material deposited at the wound site would be absorbed into blood, larger masses would need to be deposited. For the ICRP default value of 0.02 representing fractional absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, it was calculated that committed effective doses of 6 mSv could result from ingestion of about 100 kBq uranium isotopes. Depending on the degree of enrichment this corresponds to masses of 100-2200 mg uranium, considerably more than for intakes by inhalation. Nephrotoxic (chemical toxicity) effects from wound contamination might occur if, more than 10 mg uranium were absorbed into the blood, and from ingestion if, that amount were swallowed repeatedly. 3B