Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41979015›Full record

ArticleRadiation protection dosimetry2026

Thorium lung burdens of NORM workers revisited.

Gregory Stanley Hewson, Martin I Ralph, Marcus Cattani

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Radiation protection dosimetry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. NORM dust intake: comparison of personal air sampling and bioassays.Radiation and environmental biophysics · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Gregory Stanley HewsonSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia.ORCID 0009-0002-0872-9288
Martin I RalphSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia.
Marcus CattaniSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Historical thorium bioassay data collected from Australian mine workers in the 1990s, including in vivo lung counting and thoron-in-breath (TIB) measurements, were re-evaluated using current dosimetric and biokinetic models. Revised daily thorium intakes from bioassay were compared with previous estimates to assess changes in the dose profile and potential implications for contemporary operations. Reanalysis revealed lower estimates of annual dose, including the number of workers assessed as exceeding 20 mSv. However, it was found that intakes derived from industry personal air sampling (PAS) underestimated intake by up to three-fold. This study determined that sensitive bioassay techniques, such as TIB using an electrostatic collection chamber, are feasible for detecting low thorium lung burdens in longer-term workers at current mineral processing operations involving naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). This study improves the accuracy of historical exposures and highlights that PAS protocols require improvement to enhance radiation protection practices in industries handling NORM.

Indexed as

Air Pollutants, RadioactiveLungOccupational ExposureRadiation MonitoringThoriumAustraliaBiological AssayHumansMiningRadiation DosageRadonAir Pollutants, RadioactiveRadonThorium

Identifiers

PMID41979015
PMCPMC13382897

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.