% IMPORTANT: The following is UTF-8 encoded.  This means that in the presence
% of non-ASCII characters, it will not work with BibTeX 0.99 or older.
% Instead, you should use an up-to-date BibTeX implementation like “bibtex8” or
% “biber”.

@ARTICLE{Schomcker:284350,
      author       = {Schomäcker, Klaus and Sudbrock, Ferdinand and Fischer,
                      Thomas and Dietlein, Felix and Dietlein, Markus and Krapf,
                      Philipp and Drzezga, Alexander},
      title        = {{A}irborne {R}adioiodine: {A} {C}omparative {V}iew of
                      {C}hemical {F}orms in {M}edicine, {N}uclear {I}ndustry, and
                      {F}allout {S}cenarios.},
      journal      = {International journal of molecular sciences},
      volume       = {27},
      number       = {2},
      issn         = {1422-0067},
      address      = {Basel},
      publisher    = {Molecular Diversity Preservation International},
      reportid     = {DZNE-2026-00121},
      pages        = {590},
      year         = {2026},
      abstract     = {Airborne iodine-131 plays a pivotal role in both nuclear
                      medicine and nuclear safety due to its radiotoxicity,
                      volatility, and affinity for the thyroid gland. Although the
                      total exhaled activity after medical I-131 therapy is
                      minimal, over $95\%$ of this activity appears in volatile
                      organic forms, which evade standard filtration and reflect
                      metabolic pathways of iodine turnover. Our experimental work
                      in patients and mice confirms the metabolic origin of these
                      species, modulated by thyroidal function. In nuclear reactor
                      environments, both under routine operation and during
                      accidents, organic iodides such as [131I]CH3I have also been
                      identified as major airborne components, often termed
                      'penetrating iodine' due to their low adsorption to
                      conventional filters. This review compares the molecular
                      speciation, environmental persistence, and dosimetric impact
                      of airborne I-131 across clinical, technical, and accidental
                      release scenarios. While routine reactor emissions yield
                      negligible doses (<0.1 µSv/year), severe nuclear incidents
                      like Chernobyl and Fukushima have resulted in significant
                      thyroid exposures. Doses from these events ranged from tens
                      of millisieverts to several Sieverts, particularly in
                      children. We argue that a deeper understanding of chemical
                      forms is essential for effective risk assessment, filtration
                      technology, and emergency preparedness. Iodine-131
                      exemplifies the dual nature of radioactive substances: in
                      nuclear medicine its radiotoxicity is therapeutically
                      harnessed, whereas in industrial or reactor contexts it
                      represents an unwanted hazard. The same physicochemical
                      properties that enable therapeutic efficacy also determine,
                      in the event of uncontrolled release, the range,
                      persistence, and the potential for unwanted radiotoxic
                      exposure in the general population. In nuclear medicine,
                      exhaled activity after radioiodine therapy is minute but
                      largely organically bound, reflecting enzymatic and
                      metabolic methylation processes. During normal reactor
                      operation, airborne iodine levels are negligible and
                      dominated by inorganic vapors efficiently captured by
                      filtration systems. In contrast, major accidents released
                      large fractions of volatile iodine, primarily as elemental
                      [131I]I2 and organically bound iodine species like
                      [131I]CH3I. The chemical nature of these compounds defined
                      their atmospheric lifetime, transport distance, and
                      deposition pattern, thereby governing the thyroid dose to
                      exposed populations. Chemical speciation is the key
                      determinant across all scenarios. Exhaled iodine in medicine
                      is predominantly organic; routine reactor releases are
                      negligible; severe accidents predominantly release elemental
                      and organic iodine that drive environmental transport and
                      exposure. Integrating these domains shows how chemical
                      speciation governs volatility, mobility, and
                      bioavailability. The novelty of this review lies not in
                      introducing new iodine chemistry, but in the systematic
                      comparative synthesis of airborne radioiodine speciation
                      across medical therapy, routine nuclear operation, and
                      severe accident scenarios, identifying chemical form as the
                      unifying determinant of volatility, environmental transport,
                      and dose.},
      subtyp        = {Review Article},
      keywords     = {Iodine Radioisotopes: chemistry / Iodine Radioisotopes:
                      analysis / Iodine Radioisotopes: adverse effects / Humans /
                      Animals / Air Pollutants, Radioactive: analysis / Air
                      Pollutants, Radioactive: chemistry / Air Pollutants,
                      Radioactive: adverse effects / Radioactive Fallout: analysis
                      / Nuclear Medicine / Thyroid Gland: radiation effects /
                      airborne I-131 (Other) / iodine speciation (Other) / nuclear
                      fallout (Other) / radioiodine therapy (Other) / routine
                      reactor emissions (Other) / Iodine Radioisotopes (NLM
                      Chemicals) / Air Pollutants, Radioactive (NLM Chemicals) /
                      Iodine-131 (NLM Chemicals) / Radioactive Fallout (NLM
                      Chemicals)},
      cin          = {AG Boecker},
      ddc          = {540},
      cid          = {I:(DE-2719)1011202},
      pnm          = {353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-353},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      pubmed       = {pmid:41596242},
      doi          = {10.3390/ijms27020590},
      url          = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/284350},
}