Skip to main content

Table 1 Costs to save a statistical life year in different age groups

From: Preparing for a “dirty bomb” attack: the optimum mix of medical countermeasure resources

Age group (years)

Lifetime saved (d/mSv)

Costs (€/year saved)

Cesium-137 intake

Americium-241 intake

0–9

1.5

9481

90,259

10–19

0.99

14,366

136,756

20–34

0.59

24,104

229,483

35–49

0.31

45,879

436,736

>  50

0.066

215,450

2,051,100

  1. Assumptions: Acute inhalative incorporation of cesium-137 or americium-241 and implementing an “urgent approach” treatment strategy with decorporation starting 12 h after radioactivity exposure; Decorporation treatment threshold level 200 mSv; 1% of the potentially contaminated victims actually needing treatment; purchase costs of equipment and antidotes: see method section without discounts; Source for the lifetime saved in the age groups: [36]
Back to article page

Military Medical Research

ISSN: 2054-9369