Korean-specific biokinetic model for iodine in radiological protection

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recently adopted a detailed biokinetic model for systemic iodine with reference transfer coefficients based on typical worldwide dietary intakes of stable iodine. The regional data provided demonstrate that the ICRP reference thyroidal biokinetics may differ substantially across regions with atypically low or high dietary intakes of stable iodine. Importantly, the design of the ICRP model facilitates modifications of reference thyroidal kinetics based on regional dietary iodine intake. The present study extended the ICRP model to the South Korean population, whose dietary iodine intake is much higher than the global mean. The following three transfer coefficients were selected as targets for Korean-specific values: thyroidal uptake rate (λ1), hormonal secretion rate (λ4) and leakage rate of thyroidal organic iodine as inorganic iodide (λ5). The Korean-specific values for λ1, λ4 and λ5 were determined to be 4.48, 0.0086 and 0.0171 d−1, respectively, to yield the measurements of thyroidal iodine and physiological status of Korean adults. The determined λ1 and λ5 values differed noticeably from the ICRP values, whereas the λ4 value was comparable to that of the ICRP. Compared with the ICRP reference model, the Korean model, in which the Korean-specific transfer coefficients were adopted, predicted noticeably lower thyroidal uptake and faster decrease of thyroidal iodine. In addition, the predicted cumulative activities of radioiodine in the thyroid were substantially lower (40–80%) than those predicted by the ICRP model. The Korean model developed in this study demonstrates that the iodine biokinetics for Koreans (i.e. a population with a high iodine consumption) obviously differ from the prediction of the ICRP model. Hence, the Korean model may serve to improve the accuracy of thyroid dose estimation for Koreans and will lead to practical changes in matters concerned with radiological protection.