IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 MMeeaassuurreemmeenntt oo ff UUrraanniiuumm CCoo nncceennttrraattiioo nnss iinn HHuummaann BBlloooo dd iinn SSoo mmee tthhee RReeggiioo nnss oo ff BBaagghhddaadd GGoo vveerrnnoo rraattee M. S. Karim, A.H. Mohamme d and A.A. Abbas Departme nt of Physics, College of Education, Unive rsity of Al- Mustansiriyah Abstract The aim of this research is to determine the concentrations of uranium in human blood in some regions of Baghdad governorate and to determine the level of contamination with uranium for these regions during the (2003) war. The results obtained have shown that the maximum uranium concentration in blood samples was found (0.256 p p m) in AL-Zaifranea region and AL-Sader city ,,while the minimum in AL-Shab region (0.052 p p m) ,the minimum of uranium concentration in the blood samp les was found to be (0.008 p p m) (male,39 y ears old) lived in AL-Shab region, while the maximum of uranium concentration in the blood samples was found t o be (0.44 pp m) (female, 55 y ears old ) lived in AL-Sader city . Introduction The function of the blood is to deliver nutrients, hormones and oxy gen to t issues, collect and disp ose of the wast es from cellular metabolism, deliver sp ecialized cells to tissues for p rotection agent the external environment, and p revent leakage by closing holes in blood vessels [1]. The blood consists of cells surrounded by a liquid matrix, which circulates through the heart and blood vessels. T otal blood volume in females is (4-5) litters, males is (5- 6) litters, cells and cells fragments it is about (55%) [2]. All blood cells develop from st em or p recursor cells that are produced p rincipally in the bone marrow [3] The Uranium enters the bodies through the food, water and air. When y ou breathe uranium dust , some of it is exhaled and some st ays in lung. The size of the uranium dust p articles and how easily they dissolve determines where in the body the uranium goes and how it leaves y our body [4]. The uranium Inside the body by absorp tion of inhaled uranium into the circulation sy st em depends on the rate at which the p article is dissolved in the lung and on their interactions with lung legend [5]. Soluble depleted uranium p articles deposited in the lung usually dissolve, and the depleted uranium moves into t he blood within days or weeks, while the insoluble p articles tend to remain in the lung or lymph nodes for months or y ears [6]. The soluble p articles will be absorbed in the blood and remove from it t o other organs where these p articles accumulate .Absorp tion through the gut depends up on the availability of various depleted uranium comp ounds t o which an individual has been exp osed [3]. Uranium dust may consist of small, fine p articles and coarse, big p articles. The big p articles are caught in the nose, sinuses, and upp er p art of the lung where they are blown out or p ushed to the throat and swallowed. The small p articles are inhaled down t o the lower p art of lung. If they do not dissolve easily, they st ay there for many y ears and cause most of the radiation dose to lung from uranium; they may gradually dissolve and go into blood. If the p articles do dissolve easily , they go into t he blood more quickly [4]. Experime ntal Part The present study of uranium concentration in human blood from different IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 regions of Baghdad (AL-Zaifranea, AL-AL-Binuq , Haiy-Diyala, AL-Taji, AL-Mansur, AL-Shab, Abu-Ghreab, AL-Sader city, AL-Doura and AL-Ameen) is made by using nuc lear track detectors (CR-39) thickness (250 μm) and area approximate to (1×1 cm 2 ), and taking a special data such as (age, gender and place) were also recorded. The pow dered blood samples (0.4 g) weight were pressed into a pellet of (1c m) diameter and (1mm) thickness, the pellets were covered with (CR-39) detector and put in a plate of paraffin wax at a distance of (5 cm ) from the neutron sourc e ( 241 Am- 9 Be) as shown Fig. (1). After the irradiation time (one month), the (CR-39 ) track detectors were etched in (6.25N) (NaOH) solution at temperature of (60 0 C) for (6 h) ,and the tracks density were recorded using the optical microscope w ith magnification (400 x). The density of the fission tracks (ρ) in the samples was calculated according to the following relation [7]. Track density (ρ) = Average number of total pits (tracks) …..… (1) Area of field view The uranium concentrations in the blood samples were measured by the comparison between track densities registed on the detectors of the sample pellet and that of the standard blood sample pellets [8] from the relation as shown Fig. (2). CX = ρX . (CS / ρS) …... (2) When: slope = (ρS / CS) Where: CX: uranium concentration in the unknow n sample (ppm). CS: uranium concentration in the standard sample (ppm). ρX: track density of the unknow n sample (tracks/mm 2 ). ρS: track density of the standard sample (tracks/mm 2 ). Results and Discussion In this st udy (50) blood samples of injured people males and females were taken from (10) regions in Baghdad governorate as shown in Fig. (3) p resent the locations of collected blood samples from all regions, all samples had been collected from the histop athology department and sp ecialized surgical hosp ital from histop athology department for education laboratories in the medical City and sp ecialized surgical hosp ital in Teaching Yarmook Hosp ital. From table (1) it that: 1.The average of highest uranium concentrations found regions in AL-Zaifranea region and AL-Sader city (0.256 p p m), while the lowest average uranium concentration was in AL-Shab region (0.052 pp m) as shown in Fig. (4) . 2.The minimum of uranium concentrations in the blood samples for males and females is (0.008 p p m), for a male ( 39 y ears old ) who has been living in AL-Shab region, and the maximum of uranium concentration in the blood samples for males and females were (0.44 p p m) for a female ( 55 years old ) has been living in AL-Sader city as shown Fig. (4). IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 3.The uranium concentrations for females blood samples are larger than for males blood samples because the total blood volume in females is (4-5) litters, while in males is (5-6) litters [2]. 44 .. Results show that t he uranium concentration in the blood is below the allowed limit from (International Commission Radiation Prot ection) (ICRP) agency (0.115 p p m) [4], and if we comp are the results with other st udies that has been measured, the uranium concentration in injured human blood by using (CR-39) nuclear track detector, in Baghdad, ranged between (0.22-0.073 p p m) [4] and in sout heast of Baghdad measured the uranium concentration in human blood from area situated in sout heast of Baghdad ranged between (0.24-0.0521 p p m) [8] .. The results show that the uranium concentration in the blood in AL-Zaifranea city and AL- Sader city is higher than the other regions and the other results regions show that t he uranium concentration in the blood samples is below the allowed limit from other st udies. Re ferences 1. Emmanu el, C.B. (992),"Hematology ; Introduction and Princip les of Hematological Diagnosis ", London, Sy dney, 2. Berence, M .R. and Veny, M (1987), " Physiology ", Sanders Comp any, 3. World Health Organization, WHO, (2001), “Dep leted Uranium Sources, E xp osure and Health Effects ". 4. Hassan, S.F. (2006), “Determination of Uranium Concentration in Human Blood in Some Governor ates of Iraq ", M sc in Science of Phy sics, Al- Nahrain University . 5. Harley , N.H.; Foulkes, E.C.; Hilborne, L.H.; Hudson, A. and Ant boy , C.R. (1999), " A Review of The Scientific Literature as it Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses ", 7, Dep leted Uranium, RAND, National Defense Research Inst itut e, Washington, USA. 6. Rost ker, B Environmental Exp osure Report, (2000), “Depleted Uranium in The Gulf(II) ", Office of The Seduced Assistant t o The Secretary of Defense For Gulf War Illnesses, OSAGWI, Department of Defense, December, 13. 7. Amalds, O. Custball, N.H. and Nielsen, G.A. (1989), “Cs-137 in M ontarq Soils”, Health Physics, 57 No.6,P. 955-958. م كاشف تحدید (2008)،” محمود سالم ،كریم .8 تراكیز الیورانیوم في الدم لمناطق من جنوب شرق بغداد باستخدا .,266 -259ص، األول العدد، التربیةبحث منشور في مجلة كلیة “(CR-39)األثر النووي IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 Table (1): Uranium concentrations in Blood S amples in all regions in Baghdad governorate IHJPAS No. of Region Region Samples Mean 1 2 3 4 5 1 AL- Zaif ranea Uranium Concentration(ppm) O.39 0.32 0.28 0.19 0.1 0.256 Track density (Track . mm – 2 ) 27 22.3 19.5 13 7 17.75 Gender female female male female female Age ( year) 45 60 47 55 49 2 AL-Bin uq Uranium Concentration(ppm) O.25 0.14 0.092 0.075 0.011 0.11 Track density (Track . mm – 2 ) 17.4 7.9 6.4 5.2 0.76 7.8 Gender female female male female male Age ( year) 55 38 61 45 56 3 Haiy-Diyala Uranium Concentration(ppm) O.21 0.11 0.092 0.062 0.061 0.107 Track density (Track . mm – 2 ) 14.6 7.5 6.4 4.3 4.2 7.4 Gender female female male female female Age ( year) 50 47 59 65 59 4 AL-Taji Uranium Concentration(ppm) O.18 0.13 0.082 0.061 0.022 0.095 Track density (Track . mm – 2 ) 12.5 9.0 5.7 4.2 1.5 6.58 Gender male female female female female Age ( year) 46 54 54 60 47 IHJPAS 5 AL-Mansur Uranium Concentration(ppm) O.18 0.12 0.091 0.072 0.029 0.098 Track density (Track . mm – 2 ) 12.5 8.3 6.3 5.0 2.0 6.82 Gender male female female female male Age ( year) 47 60 34 36 34 No. of Regio n Region Samp les M ean 1 2 3 4 5 6 AL-Shab Uranium Concentration(pp m) O.09 0.08 0.053 0.013 0.008 0.052 Track density (Track .mm – 2 ) 6.3 5.6 3.6 0.9 0.9 3.38 Gender female female female male male Age ( year) 42 55 44 38 39 7 Abu-Ghreab Uranium Concentration(pp m) O.13 0.11 0.08 0.064 0.044 0.085 Track density (Track .mm – 2 ) 9.0 7.6 5.7 4.45 3.0 6.0 Gender female female male female male Age ( year) 39 44 56 34 30 8 AL-Sader city Uranium Concentration(pp m) O.44 0.38 0.27 0.11 0.08 0.256 Track density (Track .mm – 2 ) 30.6 26.4 19.8 7.6 5.6 18.0 Gender female female female female male Age ( year) 55 47 57 39 41 9 AL-Doura Uranium Concentration(pp m) O.14 0.12 0.091 0.077 0.011 0.087 Track density (Track .mm – 2 ) 9.7 8.2 6.3 5.3 0.8 6.06 Gender female female male male male Age ( year) 41 42 58 60 35 10 AL-Ameen Uranium Concentration(pp m) O.23 0.21 0.13 0.094 0.081 0.149 Track density (Track .mm – 2 ) 16.0 14.6 9.0 6.5 5.6 10.34 Gender female female female male male Age ( year) 43 54 66 30 36 IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 IHJPAS Fig. (1) The irradiation of the detectors and blood s amples to the neutron s ource 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 Fig. (2)The relation between track density and uranium concentration for standard s amples IBN AL- HAITHAM J . FO R PURE & APPL SC I. VOL.23 (2) 2010 T ra ck d en si ty ( tr ac k / m m 2 ) Uran ium Concentration (ppm) Slope = 69.66 (track /ppm .mm 2 ) IHJPAS Fig.(3)The locations of collected blood sample s from different sites in Baghdad governorate 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 AL-Za if rane a AL-B in uq Ha iy-D iya la AL-Ta ji AL-Mans ur AL-S hab AL-D oura AL-S ader c ity Abu-G hre ab AL-A m een Fig.(4) Maximum and minimum of uranium concentrations (ppm) in blood samples in all regions studies 2010) 2( 23مجلة ابن الھیثم للعلوم الصرفة والتطبیقیة المجلد IHJPAS قیاس تراكیز الیورانیوم في الدم البشري لبعض المناطق في محافظة بغداد عباس علي عباس ، ، عدنان هاشم محمد محمود سالم كریم قسم الفیزیاء ، كلیة التربیة ، الجامعة المستنصریة الخالصة الهدف من هذا البحث هو ایجاد تركیز الیورانیوم في الدم البشري لبعض المناطق في محافظة بغداد وللتعرف على بأن أعلى التي حصلنا علیها أوضحت النتائج .) 2003(تلك المناطق بعد أحداث الحرب على العراق عام لمدى تلوث ي منطقة الزعفرانیة p 0.256)بلغ ،اذو مدینة الصدر ،تركیز للیورانیوم في نماذج الدم كان ف p m) ، بینما كان اقل تركیز pp 0.052في منطقة الشعب حیث بلغ m)( ، 0.008)نیوم في نماذج الدمااقل تركیز للیور pp m) 39(كان لرجل عمره ( سنة تسكن في مدینة )55(نیوم في نماذج الدم كان ألمرأة عمرها الى تركیز للیور بینما أع ،سنة یسكن في منطقة الشعب .الصدر IHJPAS