LAUSR

Abstract The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is updating its suite of reference biokinetic models for internally deposited radionuclides. This paper reviews data for nickel and proposes an updated biokinetic model for systemic (absorbed) nickel in adult humans for use in radiation protection. Compared with the ICRP’s current model for nickel, the proposed model is based on a larger set of observations of the behavior of nickel in human subjects and laboratory animals and provides a more realistic description of the paths of movement of nickel in the body. For the two most important radioisotopes of nickel, 59Ni and 63Ni, the proposed model yields substantially lower dose estimates per unit of activity reaching blood than the current ICRP model.