Fracture occurrence from radionuclides in the skeleton
Because skeletal fractures were an important finding among persons contaminated with {sup 226}Ra, experience with fractures among dogs in the colony was summarized to determine the projected significance for persons contaminated with bone-seeking radionuclides. Comparison by Fisher's Exact Test of lifetime fracture occurrence in the skeletons of beagles injected as young adults suggested that for animals given {sup 226}Ra, {sup 228}Ra, {sup 228}Th, or {sup 239}Pu citrate, there was probably an excess over controls in fractures of the ribs, leg bones, spinous processes, and pelvis (os coxae) plus the mandible for dogs given {sup 226}Ra and the scapulae for dogs given {sup 228}Ra or 228 Th. Regression analysis indicated that significantly elevated fracture occurrence was especially notable at the higher radiation doses, at about 50 Gy average skeletal dose for {sup 239}Pu, 140 Gy for {sup 226}Ra, about 40 Gy for {sup 228}Ra, and more than 15 Gy for {sup 228}Th. The average number of fractures per dog was significantly elevated over that noted in controls for the highest radiation doses of {sup 239}Pu and {sup 226}Ra and for the higher doses of {sup 228}Ra and {sup 228}Th. For those dogs given {sup 90}Sr citrate, there was virtually no important difference from control beagles not given radionuclides, even at group mean cumulative skeletal radiation doses up to 101 Gy. Because of a large proportion of dogs with fractures that died with bone malignancy (even at dosage levels lower than those exhibiting an excess average number of fractures per dog), they conclude that fracture would not be an important endpoint at lower levels of plutonium contamination in humans such as would be expected to occur from occupational or environmental exposure.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- OSTI ID:
- 20075794
- Journal Information:
- Health Physics, Vol. 78, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Jun 2000; ISSN 0017-9078
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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