Only a very small part of uranium in water settles from air. The amounts of uranium in drinking water are generally very low. Uranium is found in soils in varying concentrations that are usually very low. Humans add uranium to the soil through industrial activities.
Erosion of tailing from mines and mills may cause larger amounts of uranium to be released into the environment. People always experience exposure to a certain amount of uranium from food, air, soil and water, as it is naturally present in all these components. Food, such as root vegetables, and water will provide us with small amounts of natural uranium and we will breathe in minimal concentrations of uranium with air.
The concentrations of uranium in seafood are usually so low that they can be safely ignored. People that live near hazardous waste sites, people that live near mines, people that work in the phosphate industry, people that eat crops grown on contaminated soil or people that drink water from a uranium waste disposal point may experience a higher exposure than other people.
Uranium glazes are banned, but some artists that still use them for glasswork will experience a higher-than-usual exposure. Because uranium is a radioactive substance health effects have been researched. Scientists have detected no harmful radiation effects of natural levels of uranium. However, chemical effects may occur after the uptake of large amounts of uranium and these can cause health effects such as kidney disease.
When people are exposed to uranium radionuclides that are formed during radioactive decay for a long period of time, they may develop cancer. The chances of getting cancer are much higher when people are exposed to enriched uranium, because that is a more radioactive form of uranium. This form of uranium gives off damaging radiation, which can cause people to develop cancer within a few years.
Enriched uranium may end up in the environment during accidents in nuclear power plants. Whether uranium can cause reproductive effects in people is currently unknown. Uranium is a radioactive material that is very reactive. As a result it cannot be found in the environment in its elemental form. Uranium compounds that have consisted during reactions of uranium with other elements and substances dissolve in water to their own extend.
When it has been refined and enriched, uranium is a silvery-white metal. How can it hurt me? To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this. Related Pages.
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Uranium in water comes from different sources. Uranium can be found in drinking water, typically at low levels. Higher levels in drinking water can be found in wells drilled in uranium-rich rock formations. Uranium in surface water can be transported large distances. Some of the uranium in water will stick to sediment and other particles in the water.
Uranium is naturally present in nearly all rocks and soils. Uranium deposited on land can mix into soil, wash into surface water, or stick to plant roots. Uranium can stick to plant roots. Unwashed potatoes, radishes, and other root vegetables are a primary source of uranium in the diet. Human daily intake has been estimated to range from 0.
Root crops such as potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes contribute the highest amounts of uranium to the diet. The amount of uranium in these foods is directly related to the amount of uranium in the soil in which they are grown.
People who work with materials and products that contain uranium may be exposed at work. This includes workers who mine, mill, or process uranium or make items that contain uranium. People who work with phosphate fertilizers may also be exposed to higher levels of uranium because the phosphate rock used in the production of the fertilizer may contain significant quantities of uranium.
People who live near uranium mining, processing, and manufacturing facilities could be exposed to more uranium than the general population. People may also be exposed if they live near areas where depleted uranium weapons are used. In most areas of the United States, low levels of uranium are found in the drinking water. Higher levels may be found in areas with elevated levels of naturally occurring uranium in rocks and soil.
When you breathe uranium dust, some of it is exhaled. The remainder gets retained; some comes up to be swallowed, some enters the bloodstream, and the rest stays there and can build up slowly over a lifetime. This occurs with other substances as well. Only about 0. Some uranium compounds are slowly cleared from the lungs. When you eat foods and drink liquids containing uranium, most of it leaves your body within a few days and never enters your blood. Uranium compounds that dissolve in water enter the bloodstream more easily than uranium compounds poorly soluble in water.
A very small amount of uranium can be absorbed through the skin; water-soluble uranium compounds are the most easily absorbed. Most of the inhaled and ingested uranium is not absorbed and leaves the body in the feces. Absorbed uranium leaves your body in the urine. Some inhaled uranium can stay in the lungs for a long time. Uranium that is absorbed is deposited throughout the body; the highest levels are found in the bones, liver, and kidneys. Sixty-six percent of the uranium in the body is found in your bones.
It can remain in the bones for a long time; the half-life of uranium in bones is 70— days this is the amount of time that it takes for half of the uranium to leave the bones. Most of the uranium that is not in bones leaves the body in 1—2 weeks.
Kidney damage has been seen in humans and animals after inhaling or ingesting uranium compounds. Ingesting water-soluble uranium compounds will result in kidney effects at lower doses than following exposure to insoluble uranium compounds.
Inhaled insoluble uranium compounds can also damage the respiratory tract. No health effects, other than kidney damage, have been consistently found in humans after inhaling or ingesting uranium compounds or in soldiers with uranium metal fragments in their bodies.
Rats ingesting uranium over a long time had neurobehavioral changes and changes in the levels of certain chemicals in the brain. Uranium has been shown to decrease fertility in some studies of rats and mice; other studies have not found this effect.
Very soluble uranium compounds on the skin caused skin irritation and mild skin damage in animals. No data describe the effects of exposure to uranium on children.
Although we think that children would likely show the same health effects as adults, we do not know whether children are more susceptible than adults to uranium effects.
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