Effects of combined exposure of F344 rats to inhaled Plutonium-239 dioxide and a chemical carcinogen (NNK)
- Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (United States)
- and others
Workers in nuclear weapons facilities have a significant potential for exposure to chemical carcinogens and to radiation from external sources or from internally deposited radionuclides such as {sup 239}Pu. Although the carcinogenic effects of inhaled {sup 239}Pu and many chemicals have been studied individually, very little information is available on their combined effects. One chemical carcinogen that workers could be exposed to via tobacco smoke is the tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(N-methyl-n-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), a product of tobacco curing and the pyrolysis of nicotine in tobacco. NNK causes lung tumors in rats, regardless of the route of administration and to a lesser extent liver, nasal, and pancreatic tumors. From the results presented, it can be concluded that exposure to a chemical carcinogen (NNK) in combination with {alpha}-particle radiation from inhaled {sup 239}PuO{sub 2} acts in, at best, an additive manner in inducing lung cancer in rats.
- Research Organization:
- Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Inst., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Inhalation Toxicology Research Inst.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76EV01013
- OSTI ID:
- 381372
- Report Number(s):
- ITRI--146; ON: DE96008986
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
DNA adducts as a dosimeter for risk estimation
Combined exposure of F344 rats to beryllium metal and plutonium-239 dioxide