Elimination of $sup 137$Cs and $sup 59$Fe and its relationship to metabolic rates of wild small rodents

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1975 · J. Exp. Zool., v. 192, no. 2, pp. 223-236

OSTI ID:4086691

Baker, C E; Dunaway, P B

Elimination of $sup 137$Cs and $sup 59$Fe by three species of wild rodents was measured in laboratory and field experiments to determine whether excretion rates of these nuclides are influenced directly by general metabolic (CO$sub 2$ production) rates. Sigmodon hispidus and Peromyscus leucopus were used in both field and laboratory experiments, and Reithrodontomys humulis was investigated only in the laboratory. Final-component biological half-lives (T/ sub b/) of $sup 59$Fe for Sigmodon averaged 108 days in winter, 144 days in spring, and means ranged from 176 to 242 days under various laboratory conditions (ambient temperature, cold-exposure, irradiation, and chemical metabolic inhibition); for Peromyscus, values were 50 days in winter, 47 days in spring, and 289 days (at ambient temperature only) in the laboratory; for Reithrodontomys mean values ranged from 121 to 178 days at different laboratory treatment levels. Biological half-lives of final-component $sup 137$Cs elimination for Sigmodon averaged 7.5 days in winter, 7.9 days in spring, and means ranged from 7.7 to 8.6 days at the different treatment levels in the laboratory. Laboratory mean values for Reithrodontomys ranged from 3.5 to 3.9 days. For Peromyscus, T/sub b/ values averaged 3.4 days in winter, 3.6 days in spring, and 3.5 days in the laboratory. The data suggested that elimination of $sup 59$Fe is influenced by metabolic rates of rodents in the field, but laboratory experiments were unable to demonstrate any predictable relationship. Neither did the rate of final- component $sup 137$Cs loss from rodents appear to be influenced by metabolic rate. However, final-component Y-axis intercept values of $sup 137$Cs exhibited a linear correlation with metabolic rates, and equations were derived from these intercept values to predict metabolism in the field for two species. (auth)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN
• NSA Number: NSA-33-020575
• OSTI ID: 4086691
• Journal Information: J. Exp. Zool., v. 192, no. 2, pp. 223-236, Journal Name: J. Exp. Zool., v. 192, no. 2, pp. 223-236; ISSN JEZOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*CERIUM 137-- BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
*IRON 59-- BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
*RODENTS-- RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
560172* --Biomedical Sciences
Applied Studies--Radiation Effects--Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology--Animals
CORRELATIONS
EXCRETION
METABOLISM
N48720* --Life Sciences--Nuclide Kinetics & Toxicology-- Animals