Focused Review of 

ORAUT-OTIB-0066, 

Revision 01, for 

Resolution of Issues

Stephen L. Ostrow, PhD

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

Heath, Subcommittee for Procedure 

Reviews

November 3, 2021
Purpose of focused review

◆ Purpose: Determine if ORAUT-OTIB-0066, 

revision 01, “Calculation of Dose from Intakes of 

Special Tritium Compounds,” addresses and resolves 

issues raised in SC&A’s 2008 review of revision 00.

◆ Relevant documents:

– SCA-TR-TASK3-0010, rev. 0 (SC&A review of OTIB-0066, 

rev. 00), November 25, 2008

– ORAUT-OTIB-0066, rev. 01, October 15, 2020

– ORAUT-OTIB-0066, rev. 00, April 26, 2007

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Review methodology

◆ Compare rev. 00 and rev. 01 of OTIB-0066 to 

identify relevant changes and whether rev. 01 

addresses SC&A's comments on rev. 00.

◆ Examine relevant entries in the Board Review 

System (BRS) pertaining to the OTIB.

◆ Review Subcommittee for Procedure Reviews 

(SCPR) meeting minutes for discussions 

pertaining to the OTIB.

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Issue addressed by the OTIB

“Stable metal tritides (SMTs) are a class of tritium 

compounds that cannot be detected by urine 

bioassay as easily as tritium oxide. . . . The material 

is more strongly retained in the lung, resulting in 

much smaller fractions of the intake excreted in 

urine. Therefore, a relatively small amount of tritium 

in a urine sample can indicate a large intake of an 

SMT.” (OTIB-0066, rev. 01, p.5)

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Purpose of the OTIB

“The purpose of this TIB is to provide guidance on 

how to use urine bioassay data to calculate best 

estimates of the annual organ doses for intakes of 

tritium in a metal matrix.” (OTIB-0066, rev. 01, p. 5)

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SC&A OTIB-0066, rev. 00, findings

◆ SC&A’s 2008 evaluation of revision 00 had four 

findings.

◆ After discussions at the March 24, 2009, SCPR 

meeting, findings 1 and 3 were placed 

in abeyance and findings 2 and 4 were closed.

◆ This review of revision 01 discusses the two 

findings, 1 and 3, that are in abeyance.

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Finding 1 statement (issue 3) from 

SC&A’s 2008 review

“The recommendation given in ORAUT-OTIB-0066 to assess 

dose due to intake of OBT [organically bound tritium] is not 

claimant favorable. The OTIB recommends the use of the 

methodology given in ORAUT-OTIB-0011 . . . to calculate doses 

from intakes of OBT to all organs and tissues. The dose 

coefficient for OBT given in ICRP Publication 78 . . . , which is 

1.52 × 10-7 mrem/pCi . . . ; the one derived applying the biokinetic 

model for OBT . . . using the AIDE computer code, which is 

1.52 × 10-7 mrem/pCi . . . ; and the one derived using the 

methodology given in ORAUT-OTIB-0066 . . . , which is also 

1.52 × 10-7 mrem/pCi . . . , are 1.4 times higher than the one 

obtained applying the methodology given in ORAUT-OTIB-0011 

. . . , which is 1.08 × 10-7 mrem/pCi.” (p. 16)

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Finding 1 resolution

◆ BRS: The most recent NIOSH BRS entry (Oct. 21, 2020) 

states: “The recommendation to use the methodology given in 

ORAUT-OTIB-0011 to calculate doses from intakes of OBT to 

all organs and tissues has been removed in Rev. 01 of this 

document. It now specifies that IMBA must be used for such an 

assessment.”

◆ OTIB-0066, rev. 01: Recommendation 3: “Because 

the ORAUT-OTIB-0011 . . . method underestimates the dose 

from an OBT intake by about 30%, it cannot be used for 

assessment of OBT. IMBA must be used for intake 

assessments when based on urine bioassay and IMBA or Web 

CAD used for dose assessment.” (p. 10)

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Finding 3 statement (issue 5) from 

SC&A’s 2008 review

“OTIB-0066 does not ensure that resultant doses 

are based on adequate monitoring data. . . . 

The method of choice for personnel monitoring is 

particulate air monitoring: however, there are 

multiple issues with the use of these data.” (p. 18)

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Finding 3 resolution: BRS

◆ NIOSH BRS entry January 23, 2009, states: 

“NIOSH agrees that air monitoring data are useful for 

evaluating intakes of stable metal tritides . . . . However, in 

the absence of such data, urine bioassay can be used to 

bound the SMT intake and subsequent dose to the 

respiratory tract and systemic organs. 

A discussion of the practical interpretation of urinalysis 

results following an intake of SMT and the technical 

shortfalls associated with using urine bioassay data might 

be useful to the dose reconstructors and therefore will be 

added to ORAUT-OTIB-0066.”

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Finding 3 resolution: OTIB-0066, 

revision 01

◆ Section 2.0, “Purpose,” of revision 01 is a 

substantial expansion of the brief original section 

in revision 00.

◆ The expanded section adequately addresses 

SC&A’s concerns about discussing the issues 

involved in SMTs and provides dose 

reconstructors with guidance on assigning doses 

to organs exposed to SMTs.

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Conclusion

◆ Conclusion: Based on a focused review of 

OTIB-0066, revision 01, SC&A concludes that 

findings 1 and 3 have been adequately 

addressed and resolved.

◆ Recommendation: SC&A recommends closure 

of findings 1 and 3.

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Questions?

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