Abstract :
Protection of non-human biota from radionuclides in the environment is an important aspect of many environmental assessments. Biosphere transport models can be used to estimate radionuclide concentrations in plants and animals, and the radiological dose is calculated as the product of concentration and a dose-rate conversion factor (DCF). Here, we calculate and present DCF values for 99 radionuclides that can be used in a generic sense to estimate the dose to a wide variety of plants and animals. DCF values for internally incorporated radionuclides are based on the absorption of all emitted radiations from within the body. DCF values for external exposures include immersion in air, water, soil/sediment and vegetation. We implicitly include the energy from the decay progeny if they have a half-life of less than 1 day, to be consistent with many biosphere transport models. The DCF values can be used for simple screening of potential doses in assessments where a specific target organism cannot be defined.
